Chasing Cherry
by AkatsukiStalkers-RebelQueens
Summary: oh, she was interesting. all that candy, all her confusing moods, and a past that might have meant she was dead a long time ago, at least in her metal state. sure, she had always been bipolar, but when the boys decided this special teen needs protecting, they find they have bitten off much more than they could chew- a fight to save a set of triplets, but is it winnable? Au: Hannah
1. Interesting Show

**Chasing Cherry**

Sakura popped a few pieces of M&Ms into her mouth.

"OH MY GLOB!" she screamed suddenly, feeling her blood sugar rush. eyes all around the room looked at her.

Ino and Hinata rolled their eyes, their little pinkette was about to go into her sweet cherry faze, as the three of them called it.

"Ino! pleeeeaaaaasssseeeee" she moaned, sliding out of her cafeteria seat onto the floor.

"what, Sakura-chan?"Ino said, giggling at the pink girl currently laying on the floor.

"uh... er... he he... i forget!" Sakura snickered. the platinum blonde and the ravenette giggle along.

Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were at Konaha high, it was there first day despite being the middle of the school year.

...and Sakura is what you call 'bipolar', more specifically Sakura has '_Rapid-cycling bipolar disorder_' its a mental disorder, in which her mood swings can rapidly change, become a strangely odd mixture, or she could simply go depressed or manic. but its not as simple...

imagine having a little 'you's inside your head. the two of you are completely opposite, but well aquatint. well, that's kinda how it works...

anyway, Sakura lives with Ino and Hinata, her non-identical triplet sisters. Sakura was the only bipolar one, and her sisters had to be around all day thanks to her psychiatrist's note.

now, back to the current events. all around them, everybody was looking at Sakura weird, though they didn't stop talking.

**go fuck'em all up, Saku!** Inner raged.

"no, inner... they just don't know what's going on..." Sakura told her 2nd self out loud.

everyone just got more creeped out, but Sakura just flipped onto her tummy as she hummed.

"Sakura-chan, why don't you come back up here to sit with us?" Hinata called.

Sakura slithered back up into her seat. "oooooookkkkkkkkk..." she slurred happily.

"huh, maybe she didn't go sweet cherry, i think she went cherry pudding..." Ino chuckled- this stage represented when he mind seemed to slow.

"hey, bitches!" a sudden voice arose behind the three, who sat at their own little table. Sakura whipped around, her brow furrowing.

"eh? who the hell are you?" Sakura hissed curtly.

"annnddd, she just went sour cherry..." Ino sighed, the other two sisters both turning as well.

there stood a tall red haired girl with a bitch-style smirk. "my name is Karin, and i want this table! freaks like her don't deserve it!"

"and, cherry bomb..." Hinata sighed.

Karin looked at the purple haired girl confused, but her attention shot to Sakura.

the pinkette had smashed a fist into the redhead's gut, and Karin fell backward, gasping. the whole, teen filled room silenced, eyes fixed on them.

"**who the hell do you think you are, calling me a freak? ! ?"** Sakura screeched. she slammed her leg down onto her chest, gaining a cracking sound that echoed in the room, causing everyone to cringed.

"what did i do to you?" Sakura whined. "you just came up and called me names! i didn't do anything!" tears poured down her face, as Sakura entered into Cherry Dew, a stage where all she does is cry.

"Sakura, i think we should go this way. now, eat you M&Ms. you know their good for you." Hinata purred, handing her the bag as she guided the girl away, Ino following.

M&Ms were the only thing that pushed Sakura into less internal and external damaging emotions. but both girls knew that now Sakura needed to be alone. she would get angry if they hung around. she was going to disappear for a while, to who knows where.

"that was an interesting show..." Kisame chuckled.

"yes..." Pein was rubbing his chin.

"forget fucking interesting! that was sexy as hell!" Hidan smirked, lust evident in his eyes.

"**for once...** i might have to agree..." Zetsu said, though it might have been because he, too, was bipolar.

"hm, she was hot, yeah..." Deidara smirked.

"..." by the fact Itachi and Sasori weren't scolding them, the group knew they agreed.

"Tobi, Hidan, Deidara, Sasori. go follow her..." Pein gave the order. at once, the few named boys followed- Tobi skipping oddly.


	2. No More!

**Chasing Cherry**

Sakura grumbled angrily to herself as she inhaled another bag of M&Ms. she was currently in sour cherry, brudding to herself about how it wasnt her fault as she relaxed on the edge of the roof.

"It's not my fault... it was the red headed bitch's fault..." she snarrled at the air.

**'hell yeah it was!'** her inner chidded. Sakura dumped another pack down her throat.

"Oi, that cant be to healthy, un." the new voice came from behind her, as she felt his presence growing closer. she glanced back to find a blonde teen, and gave him a death glare.

"how the hell would you know? blonds are suppose to be stupid!" she growled, instantly feeling his anger spike drasticly, only to fuel her own amusement. this managed to push her into sweet cherry.

"oh my glob! look at you hair! it sooooooo pretty!" she cooed, apearing in a dlash behind him to play wit the golden locks.

caught off guard, he gasped and spun around. "how did you do that? wait, werent you just death glaring a puppy moments ago, un?"

she ignored him, and instead found himself being glomped so he fell on his front. she was instantly playing with his hair again.

"Oi!" he shouted. "quit raping my hair!" he wriggled out from under her, and she sat on her knees and pouted.

he watched as she pulled out two bags of M&Ms, and downed them both. then she smiled brightly.

"it's not rape if your hair volinteers! and i can hear it callong to me..." she trailed off, her gaze locked on his hair.

finally, Sasori appeared. the red head observed the creaped out look on his friend's face, and looked to the pinkette on the floor who was starring at him intently.

"am i missing something here?" he called raising an eyebrow. Deidara looked up at him, his eyes still wide from his hair's attack. Sakura turned to look at Sasori, blonking. then, she smiled evily.

"hmm... pretty hair..." she murmured. Onstantly Deidara's eyes widened more.

"run, Sasori!" he shouted. but before the words were out, Sakura had glomped the red head as well. he blonked at the floor as he felt her hands running thought his hair.

"what the fucking hell os that bitch doing to you, Sasori? ! ?" Hidan's loud voine rang.

he felt her hands freeze in the assult of his hair, and he could only think of one thing: _Hidan's hair is SILVER..._

instantly after that thought, the wait on hid back vanished with a sqeal of joy, followed by a tump and string of curses.

sitting up, he smirked as he saw Hidan pinned to the floor as she molested his silver slicked back strands.

"KYA! your hair is so sexy!" she cried happily. she snuggled her face to it with a purr, obviously content.

they watched with amusement as Hidan stood up, but she clutched to his back like a koala, still attacking his hair.

"some body get this bitch off of me, damn it!" he screamed, trying to reach her and pull her off.

then Tobi, the last of the group, found his way onto the roof. he stood at the door for a minute before scream joyously. Sakura halted, distracted by the fun promising noise.

Tobi came running up behind Hidan, and shouted "Tobi wants to give her a piggy back ride!" Sakura's mouth pulled into a huge grin, and she leapt off the Jashinist directly in front of the boy.

"TAG!" she cried loudly, putting a hand on his head, then running away from him. Tobi squealed again, and the game was quickly going. the three remaining teams watched with confusion, as Sakura managed to climb up on top of Deidara, sitting on his shoulders like he would protect her from the boy who kept trying to reach her.

Sasori was still stunned when he realized now was their chance. "come on, lets go! you got her, Deidara!" the redhead with even messier hair guesture them to leave, and the blond and silver haired teens understood.

putting his hands up to hold her in place, Deidara dashed down the stairs with Tobi following right behind to catch and tag Sakura- who was giggling excitedly as she gulped another bag of her candy.

it didn't take long to get to the unused science classroom, which the group used as a type of 'base'.

Sasori walked to the door, and knocked 7 times -their secret number... lol- and stepped back. the sound of a click when the door unlocked echoed to those listening (not Sakura or Tobi), and the door was pushed open.

Sakura was still giggling at Tobi, who was pouting on the floor that he couldn't get her, while her fingers were twining in Deidara's long hair. but as she looked to see who was at the door, she feel of with the sudden motion of her movement.

" KYA!" she cried as she feel, signaling laughter from her escorts. Tobi pounced on the opportunity, shouting "TAG!" as he poked her head.

she grinned happily, and started to run after the boy with the mask. Tobi tripped over Deidara's foot, which he purposely stuck in his way, causing Sakura to stop and pout at Deidara.

"bad boy!" she pointed accusingly at Deidara. "just 'cause your hair is awesome doesn't mean you have to be mean!" she stuck her tongue out playfully. Deidara just smirked at her, and Sakura turned to look at the person at the door.

she was starring at the sharp toothed grin wearing teen, super tall and deffinately ripped. he had deep blue skin, too, but what her eyes focused on was his hair.

as the three taller teens saw how she was starring, their eyes instantly grew wide. "Kisame, watch out!" Sasori called the warning.

Kisame turned his head to the teen confused, and Sakura glomped him directly, and in his shock he feel into the room. she shoved him onto his stomach, then sat on her knees on his back.

"your hair is freaking BLUE!" she squealed happily, her hands strangling the gravity defying hair. all three of the teens who had seen what she was going to do sweat dropped.

thats when everyone burst out into laughter, including those in the hall who entered the room, and Sakura noticed the room was full of other people.

Kisame, as big as he was, easily got up under her weight. but of coarse, she clutched onto him, still lost in his hair. he blinked in confusion, unsure of what exactly just happened.

"no!" she commanded when he tried to reach back to her, and snuggled tighter onto his back. "my hair!"

more laughter erupted around the room as Kisame tried to pry her off of him, and as he finally succeeded he held her by the back of her shirt. she struggled feebly, whining for him to put her down.

she sat down right there and pouted unhappily, and for the first time she looked at the new people surrounding the room. finally, her eyes locked on another boy, with interesting black and white skin and bright yellow eyes- but once again, her sights were fixed on his hair...

she charged away, and because he was sitting down she didn't need to climb up him to literally maul his hair.

she giggled crazily as she rubbed it, adoring the abnormal color. "its like grass!" she squealed lightly as she charged away, only to trip and fall flat on her face. she sat up, and snorted.

by now, everyone in the room was holding their sides in pain from laughing at her, and Tobi came running up to her with a band aid that he cleverly placed over her left eye.

"now you look like Tobi!" he cried happily. she grinned, and ran up to everyone who's hair she had raped at some point, saying "my name is Tobi!"

finally, she plopped down, and fell over, tired. she shoved another few bags worth of M&Ms down her throat, and asked why she was here for the first time.

"wow, she finally realized that we brought her here, un." Deidara snickered. Sakura just shrugged, and walked over to Zetsu again. she sat right next to him, tired.

"can someone get my sisters? i need my sisters!" she whined.

"meh? why?" Kisame asked, looking up at her.

Sakura shrugged. "my psychiatrist told me that they should always be with me, except in a small amount of isolation time." she stated matter-of-factly, her mood changing one more.

Zetsu looked down at her. "psychiatrist? **why do you have** **one?**" he asked with his voice change, and was surprised when it didn't scare her.

"because, i am a Rapid-cycling bipolar." she stated it like it wasn't a huge mental problem.

"well THAT would explain a lot of your messed up shit." Hidan said thoughtfully. Sakura shrugged, and chugged another M&M bag.

"and hey, whats up with those M&Ms, un?" Deidara asked, stealing one of her bags. as he was pulling back with them in his hands, she jabbed a spot on his arm, and it fell limp.

"don't touch my candy. its what 'mellows me out' apparently." she told him with a glare, as he stared at his useless arm. "and don't worry, it'll work again in 2 or 3 minutes." she added.

just then, 7 knocks erupted on the door. Kisame strolled over, and unlocked the door. as he opened it, a tall man with REALLY bright ginger hair and ringed eyes entered, his face looking like it had a million piercings.

but, of coarse, she was addicted to hair... her eye twitched a minute, before she snuck away.

"Oi, Pein." Sasori called, as the pinkette snuck secretively around the room toward this 'Pein'. "we got that... girl..." he trailed off as he noticed she wasn't in the same spot.

"what? if you have her, then where is-" the newer guy started, but was cut off as Deidara spotted the girl- who was giving off the look again as she stared at Pein's hair.

"look out!" Deidara warned. but as Pein looked to the blonde, he was glomped from behind. now tackled to the floor like all her recent victims, she began to once more attack someones hair while the whole room sweat dropped.

"eh he he... that would be her, Pein-sama. she REALLY has a thing for hair..." Kisame chuckled, watching their leader's hair as it was violently snuggled.

"oh my glob! its sooooooo soft!" she cried happily.

she rolled off of him again, and with a grunt the man sat up. he just starred at her, stunned. he watched as she took out another bag of her candy, and chugged it faster than water- it didn't even look like she chewed.

"are you mental?" he finally asked, not actually being literal.

she grinned widely. "yup! im bipolar, mentally unstable, and i have a tiny voice in my head called Inner!" she grinned, then giggled.

"she's not kidding, Pein-sama. **she is all of that, she's a rapid cycling bipolar, like she said.**so we have reason to believe all of that." Zetsu told him from his seat.

Sakura suddenly seemed sober. "i want my sisters. **now.**" she demanded.

Kisame looked at her. "why? you said you could be apart from them for a while, right?" he asked, confused.

she pulled the back pack off her back, and dumped it's contents out on the floor. it was over flowing amounts of M&M wrappers. "im out of M&Ms." she stated.

now, if they remembered right, she needed that candy to stay 'mellow'. immediately, Zetsu sat up. "if she's bipolar then she will **need those M&Ms.**it would be smart to **get her sisters NOW.**" he stated.

they all nodded, and left to find the two girls Sakura had been sitting with at lunch, leaving behind Zetsu, Pein, Deidara, and someone they had pointed out as Kakazu.

Sakura remained where she was, sitting completely still. then she started twitching after about 5 minutes...

Hidan ended up stuck with Tobi, but they were both running around so fast that neither of them spoke aside from Hidan's "damn" and "fuck" when a room they came to didn't contain either of the two sisters.

it took about 7 minutes, but finally they came to a room containing the purple haired girl. Hidan and Tobi walked in casually, remembering the name Sakura had told them.

when the teacher looked up and asked why they were hear, Hidan said "is there a Hinata or Ino Haruno in this class?" though he knew well that one of the two was, because said girl looked up, along with a platinum blonde he now noticed was Sakura's other sister.

"yes... but why do you need them?" the teacher asked suspiciously.

"they are needed in the office, sir." Hidan twitched as he said sir, obviously hating to have to show respect.

the teacher nodded, and called both girls up- who exchanged glances as they looked over the two.

he and Tobi lead the way out of the room calmly, the girls following. but as soon as the door closed, he gasped. "i am never fucking saying 'sir' again, jashin damn it!"

both girls took a step back, blinking at him. he turned to them, smirking. "come on, bitches. we gotta go!" he pointed in the direction of Sakura.

"who the hell are you?" Ino asked angrily. "that's not the way to the office, so you defiantly lied! im going back to class. come on, Hinata."

Ino turned, only to be spun back around by Hidan grabbing a tugging her wrist. "i fucking said, lets go!" he growled.

Ino narrowed her eyes. "give me a reason, damn it!" she snarled.

Hidan smirked, dropping her arm. "got any M&Ms, bitch?" Ino's eyes widened.

"no. fucking. way. Sakura's out? ! ?" she gasped. "for how long?"

Hidan glanced at his watch, then his eye twitched. "about... 30 minutes?" he answered anxiously.

"HOLY SHIT!" Ino screamed, Hinata had lost all color on her face... now Hidan was scarred shitless.

as soon as they entered the room, not needing to knock because the door had been ripped off it's hinges, they found quite a seen. there were several wholes in the wall, both of the windows were shatters with glass covering the floor. Pein looked like he had been knocked out cold, as well as Kakazu, while Deidara cowered in a corner.

but, sitting in the only not destroyed chair in the whole room, Zetsu was in the same spot that he had been left in- except now, he was rocking a little pinkette back and fourth in his arms.

the newcomers blinked in amazement at the sight, some how Zetsu had calmed down the child who had done this...

"Zetsu? what the hell-" Hidan started, but Deidara's eyes widened, and he scrambled over to clamp a hand over his mouth.

"shh! ! ! !" Deidara warned with huge eyes. "if she cant here Zetsu's lullaby, she's going to rampage again!" he warned.

Hidan nodded, slapping away his hand. Hinata had shuffled through her bag, and was currently filling Sakura's bag with M&Ms. Ino pulled out a pack, and crept silently up to her sister.

Zetsu blinked up at her, his mouth still singing light, soft notes to the young girl. Ino smiled down at the pinkette, her eyes clouding with slight sadness.

Zetsu slowly stopped his singing, and Sakura blinked awake. looking up at Ino, she found the candy in her hands and chugged it all.

she sat up, still in the boy's lap, and smiled. "eh he he... did i do all this?" she asked shyly, looking around. she looked up at the two colored man, who was smiling lightly. "oh, thanks Zetsu-kun." she smiled brightly up at him.

Ino watched with amusement as a light pink spread over Zetsu's white cheeks. "come on, Saku. don't need to make him any more shy, go get some more M&Ms from Hinata." Ino giggle, pulling the pink girl up.

Sakura walked away, and Ino turned back to Zetsu, who had been watching her go. giggling, she followed her sister.

she noted how Hidan and the blonde he was talking to were definitely talking about Sakura, with looks of relief flashing through their eyes.

Ino had a feeling that who ever these people were, she might enjoy hanging out with some of them, and that her sister was in good hands...


	3. Cherry's Moods and Lists

**Chasing Cherry**

Hinata had given Sakura 5 bags to eat all at once, just in case she was still in and of her destructive moods.

that was when the ginger haired man the pinkette had learned to be Pein woke, groaning as he rubbed the back of his head. he was obviously shocked as he looked around the scene, his gaze landing on a girl in seclusion sitting on the window sill, looking outside.

he stood, and began walking to her- but was stopped by a big blonde blob. Deidara had huge wide blue eyes, and he turned Pein around by his shoulders and shoved him away from her.

he took his group's leader over to were everyone else in Akatsuki was, including Kakuzu who had already woken and the two girls.

"don't talk to Sakura right now, the girls say she needs to be alone..." Deidara told the leader, as he sat down. the piercing coated man just sat down too, so bewildered that he couldn't speak for a moment.

finally, he managed this: "what the FUCK just happened? ? ?"

both girls he recognized to be the girl's sisters smirked, then simultaneously mewed "Sakura happened: cherry bomb!"

"cherry... bomb?" Pein questioned, they all looked at the two of the triplets, before jumping at the sound of Sakura's voice.

"yesh! cherry bomb! go boom! Muhahahahahaha!" she started bouncing up and down, she had somehow gotten beside Kisame and Tobi without anyone noticing her.

Ino giggled. "come, come, Saku-chan! you know your not aloud to be jumping around, there are classes below us!"

the Pinkette hurried over, sitting between her sisters, then laying down her head so it was in Ino's lap. "Nyu!" she mewed cutely, with little puss-in-boots eyes.

Hinata leaned over, smiling. "awww, who's a good little Kitty-chan?" Hinata cooed, petting Sakura's pink hair, and the girl purred realistically back.

all around them, Akatsuki were staring in utter confusion. Ino grinned at them. "Sweet cherry!" she announced happily. that didnt help, in fact now they were worse off.

"ok, she's a rapid-cycling-bipolar, so we named all her stages...

Sweet Cherry- crazy, silly, funny, clumsy

Sour Cherry- harsh, mean, clever, happens right before or after an out burst

Cherry Dew- sad, depressed, cries

Cherry Bomb- angry, evil, hateful

Black Cherry- murderous, killer, dark

Cherry Syrup- flirty, horny

Cherry Tea- brainy, smart, genius

Cherry Pit- quite, anxious, secluded, happens after out burst

Cherry Jello- calm, mellow, relaxed

Cherry Scented- neat freak, organized

White Cherry- tired, lazy, after Cherry Stems

Cherry Stems- athletic, energetic, before White Cherry

Cherry Blossoms- shy, embarrassed"

Ino explain each of her mood swings, each one with a Cherry in the name.

then Hinata spoke up. "what you probably just went through after she ran out of M&Ms was Sour Cherry, Cherry Bomb, and some mixes of Cherry Dew and Cherry Pit towards the end, when Zetsu started to calm Sakura."

Zetsu nodded, so yes she had been in one of her sadder states.

Kisame looked over to the bi-colored man. "Oi, Zetsu! how did you know what to do? and what was that 'lullaby'?"

Zetsu's white half tinted an almost unnoticeable pink, as he answered. "well, im bipolar too. its just what my mom would have done... the song is called 'lost without love'."

both girls exchanged looks, and giggled. Zetsu looked away. "what the fuck, why such a sappy song? ? ? and how the fuck do you know a song like that, are you some sort of pussy?"

Zetsu's head snapped to the silver haired man, but before he could reply with a burning remark, he was stung by something that hurt a lot more... Sakura.

she had once again managed to just appear behind him, she tapped on his shoulder, and when he turned...

**CRACK! CRASH! THUMP.**

the first sound was the sound of cracking, making everyone cringe, of bones when a fist collided with his jaw. followed by him rocketing across the room into the wall. than lastly, landing loudly on the floor.

everyone looked from the silver teen who was sitting up with a hand on his head, to the pinkette who had flopped into a sitting position where Hidan had been. she was fuming angrily, and there were sparks in her angry jade eyes.

"Do not mock Zetsu-kun, fucktard!" she shouted, her words were dripping with malice. everyone, including said green haired Zetsu and silver haired Hidan, starred at her. "Zetsu-kun is on Sakura's pink list!"

"Pink... List?" Pein questioned the sisters, all these terms were making his head spin... or maybe that was a possible concussion?

Hinata giggled before answering. "Sakura has list's in her head- the Pink list, and the Red list. the Pink list is for those she likes or loves, such as us, or Zetsu apparently. but the Red list is a list of people she hates and will target when she's mad, or avoid in other moods- a list Hidan might find himself on if he threatens anyone else on her Pink list.

she also has a White list, which is where you are until she puts you on a new list. or you get moved there if you were on Pink, and lost her trust- or were on Red and gained her trust. Lastly, the Black list. if you get on this list... she will go Black Cherry the moment she sees you, and..." the girl trailed off, and all the boys gulped as they remembered Black Cherry Sakura was described as murderous.

Kakuzu side glanced at the fuming girl. "how do you know that's what happens on her Black list?" he asked curiously.

all three girls darkened, but Sakura smirked at him with the evil rolling from her in black waves that chilled his veins. "why don't you ask _Daddy-kun_?" the growl was low, and they all got the point of her answer. even Hidan was looking visibly shaken at the comment.

but as the pinkette downed two bags of M&Ms at once, her dark ora vanished. instead, she smiled brightly, standing and skipping around the circle to sit next to Zetsu. Hidan slunk back to his seat muttering, and Sakura didn't bother as she snuggled the two-colored man's green hair, making him blush lightly.

Pein took a breath, looking to both girls. "we want her." he stated. "she will be joining the Akatsuki, and you two may join if you wish."

Ino's grin got huge. "accepted!" she mewed happily. "dido!" the pale eyed Hinata mewed happily.

Sakura mewed happily, bouncing up and out of Zetsu's hair [lol, literally XD]. she started running around in a circle, talking about how fun it would be to have new friends.

in all honesty, it was for the best she joined the group- because some futer events were about to unfold...


	4. Of Lollipops And Seduction

**Chasing Cherry**

the rest of the school day, Akatsuki and its newest members worked on repairing the damaged base- the broken windows, the few wholes in the walls and floor, and fixing the broken furniture.

well, exempt a certain pinkette and the leader.

"ok, Sakura-san, what are your talents?" he asked, watching her carefully as she fidgeted in the seat in front of his desk.

the pink haired teen looked up at him. "i dunno, Pein-kun. some people say i have lots of different abilities!" she said, fist pumping in triumph.

he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "like what?" he questioned, eyeing her with slight disbelief. the way she seemed, the only thing she might be able to complete successfully is being crazy...

Sakura put a hand to her chin, looking thoughtful. "hmm... in words of Ino, i can bee a "'scary', 'seductive', and over all genius in 'acting' at the strangest of times"... i don't know, is that a skill, Pein-kun?" she looked at him with a tilt of her head.

he snorted, "INO, can you come over here?" he called, looking to the blonde who was re-assembling a broken desk. the blonde looked up, and skipped quickly over with a confused face as she looked between the two of the conferencing teens.

"can you explain how this..." he motioned to Sakura with a confused look, "... is SEDUCTIVE?" he already knew she could be scary, and he didn't know her long enough to test her acting skills, but she seemed a little too... 'innocent' to be seductive.

Ino smirked widely, surprising him a little. "oooh, Saku can be when she wants too. and normally, she can get anyone with out trying. it's actually kind of fun to watch, like a reality TV show!" the blonde laughed.

Pein starred at her, his eyes wide in utter disbelief. "i cant believe you, Ino." he stated, shaking his head.

Ino shrugged. "who's the quickest to fall pray to a girl in this room, Pein?" she asked. she followed his hand as the ginger pointed to Hidan, whom was arguing with Kakuzu about how to hang the window.

Ino smirked, and the leader watched as she whispered into the pinkette's ear slowly and carefully, Sakura blinked as she listened. he watched as Sakura's eye lids half lidded, and her face softened a little. Ino stood back up strait, and motioned Sakura to head over to the bickering pair.

"observe: Cherry Syrup~" Ino purred, using the name he had remembered to be described as 'flirty, or horny', and he watched with curiosity...

Sakura came up behind Hidan, who didn't notice as he ranted his own opinion, despite how Kakuzu raised an eyebrow at the approaching pink girl. _what's up with her..._ he wondered, noting the strange look on her face.

the stitched man glanced over to Pein, whom she was supposed to be talking with, to notice that both him and the blonde sister were observing- raising his curiosity all the further as his gaze traveled back to Hidan when he suddenly silenced.

his eyes widened with amazement, as he found himself looking at this sight: Hidan on the floor, his eyes wide, as he looked up at Sakura, whom was snuggling his chest like a fluffy pillow.

"Hida-kun..." she murmured, purring, and looked up at him. his mouth just gaped in silent question... moments earlier, she had sent him into a wall for mocking Zetsu, and now she was cuddling his chest? ? ?

she crawled up over him, her hands on each side of his head, and tilted her head in a pout. "Hida-kun?" she called cutely, as if his silence confused her.

"h-hai?" he questioned, shocked at the change of personality. her head lowed right next to his ear, and she whispered with hot breath, "i need to ask you something, Hida-kun..."

his eyes, surprisingly, had frozen on a space past her shoulder. "and that is...?" he questioned, his throat a little dry.

"what... is... your... favorite color?" she asked, smiling as she bounced off him, laughing as she sat on the floor.

Hidan sat up, starring at her, when his head snapped around to stare daggers at Ino, who burst out laughing as she fell over.

Pein smirked, "well, maybe i could have been wrong... " he chuckled, as Sakura came dashing back over.

"do i get my Loli pop now, Ino-chan? ? ?" the pink girl asked, jumping up and down excitedly. Ino snickered, pulling an over-sized orange loli pop from her bag.

Sakura held it, staring at it for so long both Pein and Ino exchanged glances- then jumped when she shouted "OMG IT'S TOBI-CHAN!" then ran around in circles, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Tobi, hearing his name glomped her and took it from her. "NO, DON'T EAT TOBI!" he screamed, holding it above his head and standing on his toes, so she couldn't reach.

after trying for maybe 5 minutes, she just fell down into a sitting position, looking up with teary eyes. before Tobi could do anything, she started to scream and cry rapidly, earning everyone's attention from around the room.

while Tobi frantically tried to calm her down _with out_ giving her the lollipop, Ino and Hinata came up behind her. "whats wrong, Saku?" Hinata asked sweetly.

"T-Tobi hates Sakura! h-he takes her s-stuff, and is big meanie!" she sobbed, clutching Hinata's arm. Ino promptly hit Tobi over the head.

"just give it back, ya short idiot!" she sighed with a glare. rubbing his head, he obeyed with a whimper.

the rest of Akatsuki just watched, amazed.

Konan, whom hadn't really said anything since Sakura arrived, glanced to her leader. "what have we gotten sucked into, Pein?" she asked with a sigh.

he shook his head, exasperated. "i don't have a clue..."


	5. Nee-chan, A New

**Chasing Cherry**

Sakura, excused from repairs for obvious reasons, was sprawled out on the floor in the middle of the working teens, with Deidara- whom was assigned to watch her, despite his jumpy-ness around the girl since the scare.

Not that Sakura seemed to notice. Becoming bored, she quickly decided that the blonde's hair was the best toy, and when he wasn't paying attention-

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, falling to the floor and being trapped on his stomach. Everyone rolled their eyes as they saw Sakura snuggling his hair, tossing aside the hair tie. They all silently cursed that all of them had strange hair colors or shapes, heading back to her work.

"Nee-chan, I'm bored." She whimpered, her face buried in Deidara's hair.

"Nee-chan?" he questioned, subdued, as he propped his chin on his crossed arms.

She nodded, yawning. "nee-chan, why does Akatsuki want me to join…?" she asked, snuggling tired.

_A white cherry-sweet cherry mix? _"Well, Sakura-chan… Akatsuki's job is to protect those who are different, yeah." He said, yawning as well. (Neko: kukuku, I yawn writing this, it's so contagious!)

"Mmm…" she mumbled, "what makes you different *yawn*, nee-chan?" she asked, rubbing one of her eyes and using his back as a pillow.

He looked at his hand, covered in a glove. He pulled it off, looking at the odd mouth as its tongue slithered out, and it grinned at him.

He brought it up into her line of view, and she giggled. "That's cool, Nee-chan… does it talk too? And yawn…? Maybe eat…" she trailed off.

_No, yes, and yes._ He answered with a smirk in his head. Her breathing had slowed, and he knew she was asleep. He couldn't get up, he sighed. And if he called for someone to help him- who knew what mood she would be in if he woke her up?!

It was a few hours before anyone realized Deidara; Sakura cuddled on top of his back and his hair a fluffy pillow for her head.

Hinata crouched down onto her knees, giggling. "She likes you, Dei-chan." She teased.

He grunted, "I'll say…" she shifted around on his back and he froze, trying not to wake her by moving.

"Nee-chan…" she mumbled, snuggling closer. "Nee-chan… watch out for daddy, nee-chan…" she murmured, fidgeting.

She slid off him, her head still lolling on his back. Hinata's back stiffened, as Deidara glanced behind to her. "Daddy? Did she say something about him, lik-" he stopped as Hinata picked her up, turning on her heals.

He sat up, frowning, and got to his feet. He quickly caught up, blocking her path. "Hinata. There are 3 rules in Akatsuki. The second one is important to all of us. 'No secrets about the past'." He told her.

"Now, I won't force it out of you." He told her, when she started to look anxious. "But Hinata, I'm warning you, the others will ask at some point." He warned.

She bit her lip, looking from him to the rest of the group. She nodded, putting a hand on his shoulder and ushering him into the corner of the room toward a closet.

She flicked on a light, surprised to find a small bed like in the nurse's office, and she set Sakura down gently.

"I'll tell you, but only you." She glanced at Sakura again, then back to Deidara. He nodded softly, understanding the silent plea to keep quite as long as he could.

"Sakura, Ino and I are all triplets, yes." She started. "And as you heard… Black Cherry applies to our father…"

She sat down next to Sakura, running a hand through her sister's silky pink locks. "But… we had a little brother." She said softly as a sad- scratch that, a very depressed look washed over her pale eyes. "H… his name was Gaara." She told him.

He nodded, murmuring sympathetically. "What happen to him?" he encouraged gently.

Hinata's eyes closed, her free hand trembling as she took a deep breath. "It was father. He resented Sakura with every cell in his body, because she wasn't normal. Me and Ino knew that well, while Sakura did EVERY thing she could to please him.

Chores, bought him presents every week, made him things when she didn't have any money to buy him stuff. But as long as she was the way she is, he wouldn't accept her.

Finally, father snapped…" she shivered, and he noticed the tears building strongly in her eyes. "H-he yelled at Sakura so harshly, the she went cherry bomb… to punish her… he took Gaara outside. We heard a gunshot…then another… and then a third. We could hear his scream loudly… fading… then it was gone…" she sobbed, the vivid memories live in her eyes.

He reached over to her, squeezing her shoulder with the best comforting smile he could muster and mentally begging it was enough. He mentally sighed in relief when she calmed.

"Gaara was only 5 years old… we were all 7. And that was the first time, and only time, we ever saw Black cherry… by the end of it… father needed to be rushed to the emergency room, we had to lock her in the bathroom so she wouldn't kill him.

After that… we had to run. They would have put Saku in a mental hospital, if not, juvi… we had lost our little brother, our only known parent, we just couldn't let them take her away… so, we dyed Sakura's hair black, Ino's brown and mine red. We found our way into the town of Kumo, pretended and signed up as foster children.

We don't know what happened to father, nothing more than that he lived and blamed Saku, we don't know what had happened to Gaara's body- all we know, is we don't have those lives any more…" she whimpered, her soft hand gripping Sakura's.

He squeezed her free hand, "its ok, Hina." He said softly.

"No, it's not." She whimpered. The building tears broke as a few rolled down her cheeks. "Father's been hunting Sakura down for years. He claimed she went crazy and killed Gaara, then tried to hurt us, and that he got hurt because he tried to stop her. Sakura's a criminal. And Father always catches up within a few days…" she sniffed, shaking her head.

Deidara shook his head, tilting her head toward him. "Nope, Hina. You joined Akatsuki- you're going to be protected, and Sakura, and Ino too." He told her softly.

She looked at him, for a long time. He almost thought she was sleeping with her eyes closed, if it wasn't for the wheels turning in her eyes, and the light rose dusting slowly over her cheeks.

Before he had the chance to be confused about the discoloration, a small voice was heard- "Hinata-chan, Nee-chan?"

Hinata jumped, falling over, as Sakura called. Her face was glowing so bright red, it almost seemed impossible for her to still be alive as she darkened into a purple. As she landed with a thump, Sakura tipped her head, looking messy from her nap.

Looking to Deidara, she called, "nee-chan? Why is Hinata-chan a tomato?"

Once more, before Deidara could even process the question, the door opened- _slammed_ open.

"What the hell have you guys been doing in the clo-" the silver haired zealot had started, his eyes widening.

Before him, one hell of a sight. Sakura sat on the old nurse bed, her shirt sagging on one shoulder, looking at Deidara with those tired, half lidded eyes. Hinata was on the floor, her face glowing bright red, and her purple skirt up high. Deidara stood, facing them both, with a smirk (amusement, though not how it seemed to the jashinist ;-) lol)

"Jeeze, Blondie, you work fast. And I thought you were gay, damn it!" Hidan chuckled.

Hinata's face flushed even brighter, before she fainted, and Deidara's cheeks flushed pink as Sakura's hair- who was looking around confused. "Nya? Nee-chan, what's Hidan mean?"

"Nee-chan?" Hidan snorted. "Is THAT what you're into?"

Deidara's face darkened, and before he knew what had happened, Hidan was delivered a kick in the stomach the knocked him clear out of the door way. With that, he turned, picked up Hinata, set her on the nurse bed, and stormed out- kicking Hidan on his way past.

Sakura followed after checking her sister was alright. "Wait for me, Nee-chan!" she mewed.

He sighed, slowing down so she could catch up. "You have eaten your candy, right, hmm?" he headed. When she nodded, and pulled out another, he snickered. "Well, we've missed 4 class periods- what do you say, should we go to the last one?"

When she nodded excitedly, he smirked. "Art class, here we come!"


	6. of art and hanging the man

**Chasing Cherry**

She sat next to Deidara, bouncing excitedly in the paint-scented room. Standing at the front of class was Mrs. Kurinai, in a paint splattered button up shirt, and handing clay down the rows to the students before starting roll call.

When the pair sitting as partners at the two person table got their white-ish substance in cubes, Deidara took his half with the sculpting tools, started playing around.

"Deidara," he looked up, to see Mrs. Kurinai. "Isn't that Mrs. Sakura? She is only a freshman, this class is for juniors, and she isn't supposed to be here."

He looked over to Sakura, blinking at the girl rubbing her clay into small ball shapes. She already had the clay on her face and in the tips of her hair, he laughed mentally.

He turned back to the art teacher, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Kurinai, but she isn't allowed to leave my side right now. She's… special needs, and her sisters are doing something important, so I'm watching her for the class period." He explained, not entirely a lie. Sakura WAS special needs, and he couldn't quite let her be alone.

The curly raven haired teacher nodded with a sympathetic glance at the messy girl, who was chopping her clay orbs with the plastic knife he had given her, not certain he should trust her with a knife. "Then please watch her carefully, Deidara?" she asked, smiling when he nodded.

And with that, as he carved out a bird, he chuckled when the plastic knife didn't cut clean through the clay, instead just really squished the little balls she had made.

She growled, shoving the orange object and miraculously pulling out a pocket knife, quickly cut through each cotton ball sized clay sphere about 5 times so they were in thin slivers. Her pocket knife was gone again in a matter of moments, and he gapped. "That was so awesome, un."

She giggled crazily, taking the clay she had rolled up and sculpting it easily with dainty fingers, until it was a branching tree. She took the small slivers, bending them slightly and adding informalities to edges as she rounded their sides expertly, then slit and scored them onto the branches.

With a tooth pick in her tools, she created the little ruffles in the bark. He sat there, comparing his careful bird that was a grey robin at the moment, and then looked at the epic, grey tree. "It's a Sakura tree~" she said happily, still slitting the bark.

"It looks great, Saku-chan!" he said with a grin. So, the pinkette was an artist? That's like, perfect.

"Thanks, Nee-chan! But it isn't turning pink…" she tipped her head to the side, poking the leaves. "Cherry trees aren't grey…"

Kurinai, who had been walking around to see how her class was doing, stopped to gaze at their table's art. "Don't worry, Saku. Deidara can bring you back tomorrow with my permission, and you can join the painting class." She said sweetly, admiring the beautiful pair of art works.

Sakura perked up excitedly. "I can come back to art class? I get to paint with Nee-chan, too?" she mewed in utter joy.

Deidara grinned, just as other students were packing up around them. The bell rang in the next moment, and they all placed their works on a cart to be fired in the kiln over night.

As they walked, she devoured 3 packs of M&Ms, eating a forth as they entered the nearly completely repaired base after he let Sakura do the 7 knocks at her request.

The pair settled down into a set of repaired chairs at a repaired table with a nasty crack in it. He had lived through something so scary since the guys who were once after Kakuzu from the mafia.

Sakura seemed to be going into one of her moods at the moment, and it was the ever serious Cherry Tea, where she was logical and thoughtful.

She had pulled out a math text book and notebook, working quickly on homework. She ended up helping Deidara with his own, too. Weird, because moments before she was like an adorable version of Kisame, making fun out of everything, and here she was, helping him better understand geometry.

With nothing more in the academics category for the moment, she leaned back in her chair, pondering over the boys of the new group. Deidara, already as close as a brother despite it only being the first day, had reached into a nice spot on her pink list, right there with Zetsu, as well as Kisame even though he was a little farther bellow them.

Aside from Hidan, who was teetering on the brink of joining the red list for not only making fun of her Zetsu, but also making her nee-chan mad, everyone else hadn't moved from the middle of her white list…

She decided to go ninja, sliding out of Cherry Tea and into a semi Cherry Jello cross with a fuzzy back ground of the Cherry tea instead. She slid around the room, craftily approaching a blue haired girl- the only female apart from her sisters, which picked her interest. But, not more so then the blue hair.

Without warning, Sakura leapt from the shadows and had Konan pinned below her on her back, only to be entranced by the amber eyes instead of the hair.

She sat there, holding down Konan's arms at the side of her head as the bluenette looked at her nervously, staring into those honey colored orbs. She had never seen such an eye color before, so bright, yet folding into golden brown near the pupil, and so clear and sharp.

So, in simple, Sakura had forgotten about her hair fetish for Konan's eyes. That was a very first.

Within the moment, Sakura had her arms around Konan in a tight hug. "Your eyes are _so _pretty, even prettier than hair, they are so pretty and unbelievable and golden and sparkly and perfect!" she cooed loudly without taking a breath.

Akatsuki looked at them as Konan sat up, momentarily winded with the complements, as well as the pink haired girl squeezing her stomach till it was empty. Her cheeks were a little red, but she smiled anyway, and hugged the pink girl back. "Yes, yes I know, I'm die-hard gorgeous~!"

Sakura giggled, and the crowd smirked at the pair of girls as Ino and Hinata just kinda died of laughter in the corner.

Sakura sat up, looking around like they were crazy for looking like that wasn't completely normal. And, they knew they would need to get used to such odd behavior now that they had kidnapped her from the roof and brought her into their protection.

As Konan went back to repairing some desk she remembered using to knock Pein out by smashing it over his head earlier this morning, Zetsu came over to her. She took the hand he offered to help her up, and he led her over to a table.

She sat on it, having no chairs, and watched him curiously as she started to pop M&Ms into her mouth. He pulled out a green marker that was apple scented, and went to the white board in front of them.

She watched as he drew a dotted line on the board, 7 spaces, then a gap, 2 spaces, then a gap, and then 8 spaces. He drew a gallow (the thing where you would get Hung.) and a box.

"Guess a letter, Saku." He suggested.

She hesitated, then said "A?"

He smirked, and added the letter to a few places. A _ a _ _ _ _.

She blinked, tipping her head. "E"? _ e e _ _ A _ a _ _ _ _.

She tapped her chin, going on with the vowels list, "I" _ e e _ _ A _ a _ _ _ I.

"O" _ e _ _ o _ e _ o A _ a _ _ _ I

"U". _ e _ _ o _ e _ o A _ a _ _ u_ I

Out of vowels, she tried S. _ e _ _ o _ e _ o A _ a _ s u _ I

"m?" _ e _ _ o m e _ o A _ a _ s u _ I

"B?" he put b in the box, and drew a circle on the hook.

"K?" _ e _ _ o m e _ o A k a _ s u k I

"T!" she said excitedly, recognizing the last word. _ e _ _ o m e t o A k a t s u k I

She blinked, grinning," I'd like to make a guess! Is It, 'Welcome To Akatsuki?'?"

"That is correct~" he answered in his best game show host voice, "you've just one a brand-new- car!"

Sakura giggled crazily, "good, cause I totaled my last one, and Ino's!"

The blonde girl on the other side of the room had been listening, and without looking up from sweeping up splinters, she called, "and one of these days, I'm gunna make you buy me a new one!"

"I don't have to! I got one for free!" Sakura called back, giggling crazily.

"Sounds like a good deal to me." Kakuzu stated, leaning boredly on a desk.

Sakura listened to banter continue on, flopping down onto her back on the table. Her red T-shirt settled around her, much too big, and her feet hung off the desk. She was slipping back into Cherry Tea again, and ever so complicatedly started working out about the people in the room.

Deidara was like a replacement to Gaara, now that she thought of it. But, she didn't want to replace her little brother… even if it had been so many years, she wasn't going to forget him, she never would. Deidara was just another brother. A different kind, one she could hug and talk to and get a reply. Gaara was and still is the kind you keep in your heart and you love, and he wasn't going to disappear from her.

Thinking about her brother was depressing, but she didn't have time to dwell for long. Thoughts of her father crept into her head. The last time she had even seen him was a month ago at Kumo high. Her sisters had needed to hold her back, less she kill him in her fit of black, spiraling rage.

They had run away again, to Iwa, and that time she didn't see her father, but the girls did, and they ran on to here. And this place was where it all started, her home town.

But thoughts of her father made her worry. Not for herself, but for these boys. These idiots. They wanted to protect her… they couldn't, they'd get hurt. _Bad_. The man was an ex mafia, had had the gut to kill his own 5 year old son to punish his daughter for being different.

And she knew for a fact that he wouldn't hesitate to kill any of her friends. He had tried to kill Hinata once, but an old friend of her's, Suigetsu, from when she went to Oto, jumped in. he was in the hospital for weeks. She stayed at his side for one night, but left. It would be better to never go near him again, as much as it was unfair for him to risk his life for her and her sisters and then never see him again. She wanted to keep him safe and alive.

She kept no contact for his own good, and it broke her heart to get a new phone number when he kept calling her two weeks after she left, when he was finally free from the hospital.

And, when her dad caught up this time, too, it was time for a repeat. She didn't want anyone to get killed, especially her new found brother and her bipolar skitz friend Zetsu. His two personalities reminded her of her few conversations with Inner when she was riled up enough.

"**Or just when I feel like it."** She called, somewhere in the back of her head.

Sakura frowned, ever so depressed now. She didn't want to leave the school. She found a group of people, not only were they also different from the crowd, but protected each other. But, she didn't want them to get hurt, so when her dad did find her- then what?

"are you ok? **Something's wrong with you.**" Zetsu asked/informed, his black half looking mad that she wasn't happy, his white side worried.

She turned on her side, sniffed, and murmured a yes, that she was fine.

She sat there like that for a second, before hearing his footsteps. He appeared before her, squatted down directly in front of her face.

She bit her lip, he said nothing. She glanced away, and his yellow eyes were still on her. She made to get up, and stopped her with a hand on her head to keep her from getting up.

"oh, all right, I'm sorry! But we shouldn't have joined your group, ok?" she gave in, belting at the top of her lungs. "it was a stupid idea, and I'm regretting it!" his white-skinned hand retched back like burned, and she sat up, then stood as every pair of eyes in the room landed on her.

She speed walked toward the door, and paused with a glance back, finding Pein. "I quit, I'm resigning, I'm not in Akatsuki anymore." And with that she retched the door open, grabbed her bag she had left on the inside, and slammed it closed.

She pelted down the deserted hallway, finding the stairs, and ascended to the roof.


	7. planning to die

**Chasing Cherry**

She hung her head, sitting on top of the stair well's roof, the highest point of the school.

It was too dangerous. She couldn't risk it. Not only did they have nothing to do with her problems, they didn't even know about them. As much as the rejection she just gave might hurt, it was the safest way to not include them.

They wouldn't be witnesses, so her dad wouldn't go after them. They would hate her, and wouldn't risk themselves to help her. All in all, even though she only knew them for a day, a mentally challenged girl gets attached fast, and she wasn't going to bring them harm.

She wondered what her sisters would do. Would they stay behind with Akatsuki? She'd like that. They weren't mentally different like her; they couldn't get bonds like she did from a mere day. They needed to be social; they had needs not suited to the life they were living. Hinata needed friends that would keep the shy girl happy and safe. Ino need people to challenge, to gossip with, to understand and to understand her.

Not to mention her sisters would be safer. A nice group of people to help them through no parents as Sakura took the evil father away, who threatened their lives.

She sighed; it was a dream to leave her sisters behind in safety, to protect them. It was easy to achieve that dream as it was to find the weight of a humming bird's eyelash, though. They would never leave her to fight for her own. Even if it was what she wanted.

She realized now how dangerous it was to keep her sisters nearby. She had to keep them safe…

The door below her opened, and 4 figures stepped out. She blinked, seeing the inviting silver hair, blue hair, long blonde hair, and green hair. Each one was unmistakable, Kisame and Hidan as well as both her nee-chan and her skitz. She blinked, swallowing, her ex-nee-chan, and THE skitz.

"Is she up here?" Kisame questioned, searching the space below her.

"I don't see her, hmm." Deidara muttered searchingly.

"So, what the fuck? She just up and decides she's too good for us, or some shit?" Hidan hissed, searching around the other jutting things on the roof like the chimney things from the kitchen cafeteria.

Zetsu sighed. "She probably **just realized we aren't worth it.**"

She heard Deidara's breath catch from where he stood at the door, looking back down the stairs. "You think she ditched us cause were freaks?" it sounded disbelieving and stubborn, but a ting of uncertainty rang in it.

Her multiple personalities were bubbling. She didn't know whether to be heartbroken that she was hurting people with already obvious low self esteem, or to be pissed about how shallow they thought she was.

"Maybe she just doesn't like people with blue skin." Kisame murmured sadly. She bit her lip, reminding herself this was for the best.

"Or anger problems." Hidan sighed angrily. She pinched herself, demanding she didn't move.

"Or people with defects." Deidara groaned, devastated, as he looked at his palms, where there was a frowning mouth. She had to do her best not to move, but she still peered over the edge now.

"Or people with skitz and **two colored skin.**" Zetsu added, the white half looking ready to cry.

Snap.

"Will you all just shut the fuck up and stop making me feel like the biggest bitch in the world?!" she screeched, leaping off the roof of the stairs to stand on the ground.

She faced Kisame, glaring. "Blue is hot, don't mope!"

She whirled on Hidan, poking him in the chest with a snarl. "Anger isn't a problem, and I don't care who you insult, you are MY Hidan."

She stormed up to Deidara, Taking his hand and shoving it in his face. "THAT right there is part of your body! Any accusation about not liking it is like say I don't like you, and you are my Nee-chan, so I will kick you off the roof if you say it again!"

Lastly she whirled, slapping Zetsu, the red hand print showing on his pale half, and then slapped his other side. "You shut the hell up, because you are my Skitz boy, and you're going to respect your selves! And I'm making damn sure you will!" she spat.

"And I'm not ditching you because I'm shallow, or because you're weird! I'm not staying for your own good, you idiots!" she practically screamed at them.

They all blinked at her, shocked, as she had jumped out of nowhere, individually scolded them, and practically scream something that made zero sense.

Hidan, recovering quicker, looked at her like she had grown a third head with neon green hair. "How the hell is you leaving going to be better for us?"

"Because I know as a hundred percent fact that my even speaking to you puts you in danger of ending up in the hospital for two week minimum, damn it! I don't want anyone to get hurt, and I'm the target of a complete bastard that every time I see I get so worked up my only goal is to kill! Yet this guy has managed to put four of my best friends in the hospital in the past 5 months!"

She exclaimed, panting from not taking a breath during her rant.

Then she went on, "so by the way, to keep you all from being the target of an old bastard who was ex mafia, was a navy seal for 5 years before that, and had the shit in his head to kill his own 5 year old son, I'm leaving the school!" she finished, panting again.

They stared at her for a long time, Before Deidara smirked. "I already knew your dad was out to get you, but damn, he sounds like a jack ass." He said evilly.

Hidan grinned evilly. "I get to kill a murdering jack ass? Sweet!"

Sakura shook her head. "No, you're not doing anything." She said tiredly. "My dad is a total creep with connections in the military, a good few of gangs, and he will not show mercy. The whole point of this was to get rid of you guys…"

They all glared at the pinkette. "We fought off the mafia from Kakuzu, and we don't even like him that much." Kisame said with a growl, then he smirked victoriously, "but you're our pink haired vixen, so why wouldn't we fight for you?"

"And besides, Itachi's dad is head of the police forces, and he's got connection higher than your dad, id bet, un." Deidara pointed out.

Sakura didn't even blink. "You can't help be because I'm a wanted criminal on the top 50 most wanted list. Accounts include murder, attempted double homicide, assault, theft, and drug dealing." she said emotionless.

"Even if my dad can't get me, the police are searching for me. And my sisters for harboring a criminal. So, I had a plan." Sakura said softly, closing her eyes.

Zetsu looked at her, "does it involve us helping you? **Cause criminal or not, we will help."**

Sakura nodded, "you will be helping, because I trust you. You're going to take care of my sisters." She said bluntly.

"What? Why?" Kisame questioned, confused.

"Because I can't anymore." Sakura said simply, hiking her bag on her shoulder. "Just before you guys came out here, I had decided. I'm leaving them behind." She said softly, walking toward the stairs. The door Deidara had been holding open revealed two more people listening in on the conversation.

Itachi and Pein.

"You're actually going to leave them? Just like that?" Pein questioned staring with his odd eyes, and beautiful messy hair.

"It's either that, or let them die trying to help me. Hinata was almost killed right before we moved here." Sakura whispered, not stopping. She started down the stairs, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

She turned back, her mood firmly in Cherry Dew, and looked at Itachi.

Pein stood at the base, all of Akatsuki sitting around him, except Sakura and Itachi.

"Sakura Haruno is dead."


	8. Blue M&Ms

**Chasing Cherry**

Everything was dark… she felt dizzy… she was confused.

She looked around, finding nothing but darkness. Then, she remembered.

She was dead.

Sakura sighed, Itachi was a genius. And now she was dead. In the darkness.

Of course, you know she's the main character, so she's not _actually dead_.

She should have guessed, really. You don't join the protection group like Akatsuki, just for having red eyes. Deidara's amazing birth defects, Kakuzu's mafia story, Zetsu's schizophrenia and appearance. You had to be pretty weird to be in Akatsuki, so she should have guessed something would be more off about Itachi.

And, it turned out that the silent man was the dictionary definition of Insane. He, in fact, had an odd condition that his dad (chief of Police with all the connections) kept under wraps, so that he didn't become a test subject. Not only was he a _huge_ conspiracy theorist, and a dooms-day preper, and a little bit overly interested in everything, the guy had some mental abilities.

In a matter of unhesitant, amazing psychological messages, she was relayed the first part of a well concocted plan to protect her sisters, as well as Akatsuki, whilst ditching her dad.

And so, he threw her off the roof within ten seconds. And she plummeted 3 stories.

Of course, ever careful Itachi hadn't quite warned her, and a panicked scream ripped from her throat, before yet another mental message reached her seconds before the ground did- and then, in mid air, she paused.

Itachi had some cool mental prowess.

She was set on the ground carefully, by an invisible force, where she lay, as Itachi had mentally told her to. A small glass vile came to her from his command, and poured a clear, bitter liquid down her throat.

She was quickly paralyzed, and her eyes glazed over and her vision was slightly blurry as she watched all the Akatsuki appeared the edge of the roof, screaming.

In the next 30 minutes, students were everywhere. Paramedics kept them away, and she watched unmoving as two police carried a purple-cheeked Itachi toward police cars.

It appeared that the guys had flipped out on Itachi, and it surprised her that their end of the bond with the pinkette was as strong- or somewhat as strong- as her own.

Another mental message flashed between her and Itachi when they locked eyes, and he smirked, before he was pushed into the back of the police car.

He had just alerted her that Kisame knew the plan.

And, as the day went by, she was taken to a hospital. Pein would alert the rest of Akatsuki she was dead, that Itachi had one of his freak attacks, and killed her. Just as planned.

Itachi was going to be given 60 days in prison, as he predicted. It happened, as planned, she knew from the T.V. playing in her hospital room.

And in the next day, after her sisters and all the available Akatsuki had visited her hospital room (much to her surprise), the liquid she had swallowed would make her skin turn pale, her heart slow, and her whole body go cold. They would think she was dead. And that happened, as planned.

Kisame, alerted by Itachi, never left the hospital. When no one was around, he would update her on Itachi, the girls, or Akatsuki. And the day she was pronounced dead, the next part of the plan went into action. That night, an hour before they were going to move Sakura's body, Kisame broke in.

He 'stole' her dead body, and in the back seat of a blue truck she was placed, before he promptly drove away.

At the same time, he had stolen some of Deidara's clay explosives, and (as hilarious as it was) put a body made of spam in her place. The explosion would go off, and after he made it so none of the sprinklers in her room would work right, only that one room would burn.

They would fine the charred body of spam, and that was that. The 'dead' body was burned. Itachi's dad would bend the story, saying that it was the fire that had actually killed her.

And it did. It all went according to plan.

The girl who died in the fire story on the news talked more about how she was a wanted criminal than anything else, and that criminal was dead to the world.

And here she was, waking up dizzy from the poison-paralyzer she had drank, in a dark room. It was a room at Itachi's house.

She was waking up the day after he was released, and she was waking up right next to him. For the first time in a few weeks, she stretched her arms and legs. As she sat up, the raven haired man shifted in his sleep, and she carefully slid out of his bed.

Her legs were Jello, and they buckled underneath her as she gave a low moan.

This sucked. She couldn't get up off the floor, she had woken up right into Sour Cherry, and her M&Ms were in the bag on top of the desk across the room.

"fuuuck." She sighed, crawling over the temporary roommate, Kisame, who lay on the floor in a mountain heap of blue muscle and blankets. She was surprised he didn't snore, breathing as deep as he did with each breath.

Half way climbed over him, she sighed in exhaustion. Collapsing where she was, she sighed in bliss. She was fine right here, she would sleep a little, just a minute, then get her candy.

Or not.

"You comfortable there, kitten?" he chuckled.

She hadn't noticed he had woken up… probably because she didn't really care. "Eh, go back to sleep, Sharky. I'm comfortable, and I'm not getting up." She declared. "Plus, you're very warm."

He chuckled, and it sounded somewhat ill at ease and uncertain… uncomfortable. "No… you see, you gotta get up." He chuckled, awkwardly.

She sighed, burying her face into her chosen bed. "Don't wanna." She moaned, unyieldingly.

Completely still, he replied once more, somewhat tense. "Please move, like, seriously."

She ignored him, snuggling a little deeper.

"Sakura-hime, hn. Does what you feel under your face feel hard?" Itachi yawned, from where he was propped on one elbow in his own bed.

She sighed, "Sure, I guess."

"The longer you lay like that, the harder it's going to get, before the shark gives in." he commented, smirking evilly.

Using her hands to prop herself up, intending on looking at Itachi quizzically, she realized she had been burying her face right into Kisame's crotch.

Yipping in surprise, she rolled off him and onto the floor, where she crossed her arms in a pout and her face blushing as bright as her hair.

Kisame sat up, chuckling a little awkwardly, his face a rather dark shade of purple, before he edged toward the bathroom, one of the blankets he held blocking his manhood pride. He was probably headed for a cold shower.

"Stupid, overly comfortable man dicks." She muttered, flopping down on the warm blanket he had left behind.

"He did warn you, Sakura-hime." Itachi reminded her, rolling back over in his bed. It was still late at night, he didn't intend on getting up any time soon.

She snorted. "Whatever, all I wanted was a comfortable place." She stated, "It's not my fault it was his crotch."

"Will you guys shut up about it!" Kisame cried from inside the bathroom.

"Never, you blue pervert!" she called back, rolling herself up into a burrito with his blanket.

"You're the one who tried to rape him." Itachi commented.

"Ah, fuck you; I was only trying to eat my M&Ms."

"You mean you were trying to eat Kisame's M&Ms."

"What kind of weird slang is that?" she snorted. "His M&Ms are blue, not rainbow!"

"Shut up! You guys are so not talking about my M&Ms! That is just creepy!" Kisame whined, she could still hear the shower going.

"Calm down, Kisa. Besides, we have to figure out what color Itachi's M&Ms are."

"That, is disgusting." Kisame commented, reentering the room with damp hair and his baggy night pants.

"You're a creeper, Saku-hime." Itachi remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, I bet they're red." She yawned.

Kisame snorted; taking the blanket he had covered himself with on his way to the bathroom, he landed on the pallet. "go to sleep, dead lady."

"That's the whole point of being dead." She replied, inadvertently shifting toward his warmth, in her cocoon.

"You both need to sleep, creeps." Itachi put in, already half asleep.

"Back at you, psychic boy." She replied, hearing both chuckle before she drifted to sleep.

After Sakura's hospital room had burned down, and even her body was nowhere to be found, the unknowing members of Akatsuki didn't quite know what to do with themselves. This was the first time they had failed to protect one of their members. And it was a particular member that they all had liked, too.

Whilst the medics and police swarmed the school, Zetsu and Deidara had shown little mercy on Itachi, doing what they could to send the Uchiha to the hospital as well. Of course, Pein managed to pry them off the raven haired man, fully intent on roughing him up himself, when the cops burst onto the roof. Itachi was quickly escorted away to arrest.

With that, Pein's men returned to the base on his order, while he went down stairs to find someone and see what happened, if Sakura was going to be ok.

What they told him wasn't good.

Sakura was pronounced to be overly week; it was unlikely she would live through the night. So, he relayed the news to Akatsuki solemnly. This was about the time Itachi's message reached Kisame, but he kept a straight face as they all hurried to get to the Hospital, only just around the corner from the school.

When Akatsuki finally decided it was time to take Sakura's sisters away from the sight, where they sat bawling at her side, 10 minutes later Sakura was dead.

Those who weren't on the roof learned Sakura's secret via TV, that she was a high ranked criminal on the loose. And, when her whole room burned down that night, her sisters assumed that it was their father getting the only revenge he could.

On day 60, Itachi returned to the school. Kisame was absent that day; taking care of the paralyzed Sakura- and no one else wanted the Uchiha menace here. And he had planned that.

So, over the next few days, as he had planned, he was an outcast. It didn't really bother him all that much; no one had the guts to pick on him for his eyes or mental state now that he was technically a killer, even though medics said it was the fire that killed Sakura.

So, long story short, Akatsuki were still grieving over their lost member, while Kisame kept an eye on Sakura's sisters, and Itachi made sure that the group didn't look too weak from grief on the outside. If it looked like they were, he would pass by them, and they would get angry. Problem solved, Akatsuki looked as battle-ready as ever.

And after Sakura's secret got out, her father and all, Akatsuki's goal was to do what Sakura had asked before her end- protect her sisters. Sakura hadn't planned on dying, but their part in her wish was going to be held, her triplet sisters would be safe.

But, according to Itachi's planning, Sakura was to live at his house only for so long. It would eventually alert his parents when he was sneaking extra food into his room, and so they were calling upon one of Kisame's friends, who lived in his own place.

It was day 72 when Kisame showed up in her room, leading in the other familiar face.

"Wait here, she's in the shower." He said, motioning to the bed as he went for the door.

Knocking loudly, he called in, "Oi, pinky! Get out here, your escort is here."

The shower shut off a minute later, and he received a "Hold on, blue M&Ms!"

He sighed at the name she had taken to calling him, which still, as you could see at this moment, still brought a ting of purple to his face.

She stepped out moments later with a grumble, headed for the dresser in her towel. "There aren't any clothes in there." She complained.

"Sakura?!" someone from the bed gasped.

She froze in place immediately; she knew that voice too well. Whirling around, she saw the blue-white hair and his crystal blue-green eyes. "…Suigetsu…" she whispered.

Then she turned on Kisame. "Why is he here?! He's not supposed to be here, he should be safe in mist!" she screeched.

He blinked in surprise. "What? You've met my cousin?!" he questioned, amazed.

"Sakura!" Suigetsu called, spinning her around, and wrapping arms around her, ignoring her scream fest. "You didn't take my calls, you didn't show up, you didn't tell me you were going, nothing! Then the news said you were dead!"

Sakura looked like she was on the verge of tears, her arms wrapping around him in a split second, squeezing him tight. "You idiot, I told you not to get in his way. He would have killed you, if I didn't end up breaking both his legs when I saw you go down." She scolded, clutching firmly.

"I'd go to the hospital for a week to protect my best friend for an hour!" he retorted, grinning. "Thank fucking god your ok!"

Kisame, looking confused, interrupted. "Ok, Sakura, you might want to get dressed now, while Suigetsu does a little explaining."

Sakura, realizing she was still in her towel that was gradually getting limp, slid over to the dresser. Digging out one of Itachi's oversized black shirts with a family force five emblem on it, and a pair of baggy black jeans, she disappeared into the bathroom.

Suigetsu explained to Kisame how Sakura went to his school not too long ago, and that they had become best friends. But, again, her father showed up, and when he attacked Hinata, Suigetsu had lashed out on the oversized father, but ended up getting hospitalized for being shot 3 times. When he woke up, he learned on TV that Sakura was a criminal, and her father had blamed Suigetsu's hospitalization on the pinkette- who was nowhere to be found. He had called over and over, but she never picked up, and he couldn't figure out where she had gone.

"You should have minded your own business, I moved for your own safety, and here you are getting into illegal business with me again." She scolded, starring down at her old friend.

"Whatever, you're living with me and Jugo now, you get no say." He teased, grinning.

Sakura blinked, unamused. "Jugo too? How many people am I putting in danger by being dead?" she questioned, looking at Kisame with an unhappy face.

Kisame grinned, "Sorry, kitten, but your moving in with me, my cousin, and his adopted brother from now on."

She sighed, looking out the window. It was sunset, they could leave soon. She headed for the bathroom, "whatever, I have to attempt to dye my hair. It's going to look stupid; it's as hard as dying black hair blond."

The pair of shark people laughed, but, 2 hour later she was right. It was dark black, and it had a pink sheen to it that almost looked red. It didn't turn out right, but man did it look cool.

So, silently and wordlessly, the 3 of them slid out Itachi's window, the raven haired man having not been there that night because he had taken his parents out to dinner to keep them out of the house.

They hurried through the night, until they found their way to the apartment complex the boys were staying at. 2nd floor, room 2a.

Suigetsu knocked –to her amusement, 7 times. Universal code or what?- on the door, and the memorable, over sized ginger she had known opened.

And, even with black hair, he recognized her as well. Within a second of looking at her, he grabbed Sakura in a tight embrace, grinning happily as he stepped aside to let the other boys in.

"I found my midget! I found my midget!" he chanted the tune, happily.

She squirmed in his arms, before she sighed defeat, slumping over like a cat being carried by a little kid, draped over his arms. "damn." She moaned.

Closing the door, Suigetsu laughed crazily. Kisame smirked, "come on, put down the short cake before you smash her, Jugo."

She dropped to the floor, taking a deep breath from being suffocated. "Thanks, man." She sighed, tiredly.

Kisame chuckled, picking her off the ground with an offered hand. She sighed, shaking her head. "Now, let's see. Jugo the monster sized guy. Suigetsu, my water boy. And Kisame the shark man with blue M&Ms. Great, I'm surrounded by mutants." She sighed, plopping onto a couch.

"Tsk, tsk. After I offer you my bed, you call me a mutant?" Kisame teased, grinning. "You could totally have the floor instead."

She pouted, "I'll take the bed, thank you~!" she mewed, sticking out her tongue.

Jugo looked thoughtful. "So now, we have a girl in a house with three men… and were going to trust Kisame in the same room as her at night…" he mused, frowning. "I don't know if a like that."

Sakura scoffed, "are you kidding? Kisame's a sweet heart." But, then she added with a smirk, "Though, I do wonder if he's blue where it counts."

"Fuck you." Kisame pouted, stalking away to a hall with a flush of a blush. (Lols, flush, blush. They rhyme.)

Sakura grinned, "It's not my fault you can't keep it in your pants when all I wanted to do was sleep!" she shouted back.

"You shouldn't sleep with your face like that!" he whined back. "And it's hard to keep it in your pants when _you're_ in those pants!"

She laughed, rolling off the couch.

Suigetsu and Jugo exchanged uncertain looks, now even less sure they should be in the same room alone all night.

She smirked at them, "Its fine, its fine." She shooed them, "he isn't man enough to do nothing."

"Hey!" Kisame called, poking his head out of the hall.

"Well you're _not_, Kisa-chan~!" she cooed, grinning, as she leapt off the floor to glomp him. "You're just my little fishy-boy!" she giggled, swinging into Sweet Cherry once more.

He sighed, still al little purple at being such a pansy for the twerp. He pried her off, tossing the giggly creature over his shoulder. "Time for bed, Kitten."

She made an unhappy whimper, and he started down the hall. "Say goodnight to the boys, Saku."

"Nig-night Jugo-chan! Nig-night Suigetsu-chan!" she called, waving from her place of the shark's shoulder with a grin. They chuckled, and Kisame took the Pinkette back to his room.

Tossing her onto the bed gently, he headed for the closet changed into something comfy, before grabbing the spare blankets and pillow from the very back of the closet. Opening up the door from the closet to his room, he blinked at the little ball curled up on his bed, who quickly shut her eyes as he entered.

Was shy trying to feign sleep? He blinked, raising a brow, and tossed his pillow and blankets onto the floor, shaking his head. _Weird girl, she is so nuts._

Flicking out the light, he crashed onto the floor, ready to sleep.

His bed creaked a few minutes later, and he blinked open his eyes. He felt her, snuggling up to his side, wrapping arms around him, and burying her face into his side.

He exhaled heavily, giving up without much of a fight. She had done this to either him or Itachi every night, she obviously was a snuggler. So, wrapping one arm around her in return, he closed his eyes, and listened to her breathing deepen.


	9. how to seduce a vegetarian plant man

**Chasing Cherry**

"Pervert~" Suigetsu called, looking down at him.

Sunlight was filtering in streams through the window; Suigetsu leaned over them with a dead pan face, though his eyes glittered with amusement. Jugo was just behind him, watching with a raised eyebrow.

Sakura was currently snuggled on top of him, fast asleep, and he almost didn't recognize her with the black hair. But, no, that was her, hugging onto his chest and deep asleep, and he had both his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her there against him.

He blinked up, still tired, and unamused with the wakeup call, because it was Friday, and there was no school today. "If I had done something, don't you think we'd both be in the bed, instead?" he asked, closing his eyes again.

"No, you get more leverage on the floor." Jugo stated, completely out of character, making him open his eyes with a glance at the oversized ginger.

"Oh… kay… thank you, Jugo. But no, Sakura likes to snuggle." He sighed.

"Your damn right I do." She muttered groggily. "Now shut up, I'm trying to sleep." She growled, curling up more on Kisame' blue chest. He blinked, pulling the blanket up over her, and rolling his eyes as he once more tried to close them.

"Kisame." Itachi called, from where he had gone unnoticed at the door. "Do try to get up without waking Sakura, we need to talk." He stated, more like ordered.

He sighed. No, it didn't look like he was getting any sleep this morning. Carefully sliding his arms between her and himself, he settled her down beside him, and got up, covering her with the blanket.

She sat up, anyway, before looking around unhappily. She grabbed her pillow and blanket, following Kisame out the room, her eyes half lidded with sleepiness.

She followed Kisame into the living room, where he sat on the couch. She sat beside him, put her pillow in his lap, and laid down there, ignoring his chuckle as she snuggled in her blanket happily.

"What do you need, Itachi?" he asked, propping his head up on his hand.

"It's time for faze 3 to start, tomorrow." Itachi stated, and Sakura's eyes opened, watching intently. "We need to get Pein to see Sakura in your house, so that he can announce the news. To everyone but Sakura's sisters for now."

Kisame grinned. "I was meeting up with Pein and Zetsu tomorrow night anyway, I can tell him to come over here earlier instead." He said, getting out his phone to text the leader when Itachi nodded.

Sakura blinked, "can Zetsu-kun come over, too?" she asked, looking up at Kisame.

"It wouldn't affect anything." Itachi commented.

Kisame nodded, smirking down at Sakura. "Sure, Kitten, I can invite skitz boy over."

Sakura smiled, snuggling into this lap. "He's Sakura's skitz boy." She purred.

The shark man just smirked, "good, cause he misses his bipolar blossom." He told her, now messaging the two-colored teen.

Sakura giggled, and minutes later both teen boys had replied an ok, and were going to be there in 30 minutes.

"So, what exactly are we going to do, 'Tachi?" Sakura asked, yawning.

Zetsu got out of Pein's hummer, slamming the door closed as the pair headed up the stairs for Kisame's apartment.

Neither had any clue why the shark had told them to show up hours earlier than normal, they had all bought tickets to some horror movie at 9 that night… and it was still 8 in the morning. Neither even thought Kisame could even be _up_ this early when there was no school.

Pein knocked at the door, and they waited.

"_DOOOOOOOR, ITACHI-KUN!"_ a voice bellowed, and they blinked. Was there a little kid in there? (It's muffled by the door, so they didn't hear it as Sakura's voice.)

More certainly, they heard the word Itachi. Why the hell was he here? Was this going to be some bogus 'make up' thing Kisame did for his best friend? Because they would have no part in it.

Then, the raven haired man opened the door, his red eyes as blank as ever. He opened it wider, moving so they could enter the shark man's house.

"Yo, glad you're here." Kisame grinned, he was sitting on the couch, and some black-red haired girl was lying in his lap, its face away from them.

"Why is _he_ here?" Pein demanded.

At the sound of his voice, the figure in Kisame's lap jolted up, and fell off the couch, to the floor in a tumble of blanket, pillow, in non-gracious surprise.

"Uh… and **who** was _that_?" Zetsu asked, tipping his head.

The figure bounced up, and at the sight of her unforgettable, organic, grassy, apple green eyes, they gasped in recognition.

Sakura immediately pounced, tackling Zetsu clear to the floor, where she promptly and perfectly remembered her hair fetish, snuggling into the leafy-colored fronds with the biggest grin ever.

"Sakura missed her skitz boy so much, she missed him a lot! Cause Zetsu-kun is her special person, and he isn't supposed to be away from Sakura!" she mewed, ever so cheerful to have her bi-colored teen back.

He swiftly sat up, pulling her into his lap and hugging her so tight she thought she might fly away if he let go. "You're… you're **ALIVE**!" he gasped, looking ready to cry on his white side, his black half grinning victoriously with sharp teeth.

She nodded, smiling brightly. "Itachi-kun is really smart! He made a plan to keep Sakura's sisters safe, and to make the bastard loose our trail, and now Sakura can see her Skitz boy again!" she said excitedly, bouncing around the room in her very Sweet Cherry mood, before re-glomping Zetsu back onto the floor.

However, Pein and Zetsu's heads simultaneously turned to the fore mentioned Uchiha leaning against the closed door with his arms crossed.

"So you _planned_ this?!" Pein questioned, bewildered. "I know your really technical and a fast thinker, but even in those few minutes on the roof, you couldn't have planned this!"

Itachi shook his head. "Deidara spoke with Hinata back on Sakura's first day." He stated, "And I overheard. I started to plan then, and I saw my chance." He stated.

Sakura giggled crazily. "Hina-chan likes Nee-chan~!" she purred happily.

Zetsu blinked at the girl holding him to the floor, grinning. "And how do you know that, Petal?" he asked.

She giggled, "Because Hina-chan looks at Dei-chan when no one is looking, and Hina-chan does her finger thing behind her back instead of in front, and Hina-chan likes people with blonde hair and blue eyes!" she exclaimed joyfully.

The men in the room chuckled, having not been aware of Sakura's sister's nervous habits that only happened with the blonde artist.

Sakura bounced over to Kisame, grinning excitedly. "I'm not dead anymore, Kisa-chan!" she exclaimed, clinging to him around the waist.

He smirked, patting her on the head, which was now dyed black. "Nope, but remember, you can't see your sisters yet, Kitten."

Itachi nodded, "Sorry, Saku-hime, but you know you can't."

She slumped over, sitting down on Kisame's lap, and looking pretty depressed. "But I wanna see my sisters…" she whimpered.

Itachi frowned. "No, Sakura-hime." He said firmly. "The plan is set, you should see them when faze 3 is over."

Pein glanced to Itachi, skeptically. "Since when do you call her princess?" he asked. (-hime means princess, to all you noobs)

Itachi blinked at him, uninterested. "Hn, it fits." He shrugged.

"She was a sleeping beauty for longer than Itachi was in prison." Kisame pointed out.

"And I like being a princess." Sakura stated, luckily fizzling out of her Cherry Dew before she got too depressed.

"So, she is my princess." Itachi declared firmly.

"Humph, well she's still my kitten." Kisame avowed with a pout.

Sakura hugged him, "don't worry, Kisame-chan, your still Sakura's sleeping buddy!" she cooed. "We can sleep together every night!"

Kisame received some odd looks, and he flushed an awkward slight purple. Patting the girl on his lap on the head, he grinned gawkily. "She, er, likes to cuddle."

"Pervert~!" Suigetsu called from the hall way.

"Shut up, Suigetsu!" he shouted back.

"Hey, at least I'm on top with a girl, Mr. Blue M&Ms!" Suigetsu called from where ever he was.

Sakura squeaked, "He would squish me, Sui-chan!"

Jugo popped his head out of the hall, "not with the leverage he could get on the floor." The ginger commented, before disappearing again.

Sakura giggled a little crazily, and as if Kisame wasn't already purple enough from his weird way of blushing, Jugo commented to Suigetsu: "But hey, Sakura was wrong, Kisame did have the M&Ms. The position they were in could have been a good fuck."

Suigetsu laughed, now poking his head out the hall. "Were his M&Ms blue like you thought, Saku-chan?"

She didn't replied, just put on a very evil grin that he returned, before he disappeared and they both laughed like crazy.

Meanwhile, Akatsuki were glaring very darkly at Kisame, looming shadows plotting his death, even Itachi looked very pissed at images foretold.

Sakura blinked up at them, tipping her head to the side innocently, still sitting on the shark. Then she looked at Kisame, who had face palmed, and the skin of his face she could see with _very_ purple.

"… Kisa-chan, are you sick?" she asked, swish worriedly to pry his hand off his face and feel his forehead. Of course, his face was burning from the blush, and Sakura jumped down off him.

"Zetsu-chan, Zetsu-chan, Kisame-kun is sick!" she cried worriedly, bouncing over to him, tugging his arm.

Zetsu sighed, looking down at her with a frown. "**No, Sakura,** he's just embarrassed because now **were going to kill him for sleeping with you**." He explained, looking disappointed.

She blinked, tipping her head. "But Sakura _needed_ to sleep with Kisame-kun." She said puzzled. "There was no one else to sleep with Sakura."

They blinked at her, befuddled. When did Sakura turn into a slut?!

"Sakura-chan can sleep with Zetsu-kun, too! It will be fun!" she said, with an excited bounce, earning Zetsu's white half to flush completely red, his black half even blushing rather heavily.

"Sakura-chan, that's not a good thing." Pein said slowly, shocked, "You don't just sleep with someone."

"But Sakura already slept with Kisame-kun, and Itachi-kun, and Suigetsu-kun and Jugo-kun a long time ago." She blinked. "Sakura always sleeps with someone!"

They jaw dropped, looking at Itachi, who started to grin. "Oh, now I get what she means." He chuckled.

"I told you I'm not a perv." Kisame snorted, crossing his arms.

Sakura giggled happily, glomping Kisame. "Kisame-kun is nice and warm, and comfy!" she giggled crazily. "He's Sakura's favorite cuddle buddy!"

Pein and Zetsu sighed, realizing with relief Sakura _wasn't_ some sort of slut.

Either way, when yet again she latched onto Zetsu, he flushed when she asked "will Zetsu-kun sleep with Sakura-chan too?"

"**Eh he**, s-sure, Saku." He said with an embarrassed grin.

Suigetsu appeared behind him. "Have fun sleeping with Saku-chan~!" Jugo materialized at his side, "just remember, the floor gets the best leverage."

Zetsu gapped, and Sakura just giggled.

"Wait, this guys pretty tall, and sense you seem to know about leverage, are you sure it counts with the overly tall guy?" Suigetsu asked, quite actually curious.

"With someone as small as Saku- id say the bed is best for them, actually." Jugo replied thoughtfully.

Zetsu looked so flustered, wondering how on earth they had started to discuss this, when Sakura jumped a little. "We get to be in bed together, Zetsu-chan!" she said excitedly.

Laughter was continuously erupting from the surrounding people, and so no one but Zetsu noticed a sudden shift in Sakura's bipolar mood.

She got on her toes, and right in his black half's ear, whispered breathily "be gentle, Zetsu-sama~"

Flushing in complete shock and amazement, she giggled giddily and hurried back over to Kisame and the couch, where she promptly sat down on his lap again, smiling innocently.

He just stood there, flabbergasted. _What… huh?_

"Cherry… **Syrup.**" He realized, blinking. from Innocent to… to _that_ and back in seconds.

Damn.


	10. resisting and uncontrolable urge

**Chasing Cherry**

Pein had informed Akatsuki (minus the two sisters) gradually about Sakura's survival, over the time span of about 2 weeks.

Under her request, the next person to see her alive two days later was Deidara, and upon seeing the black-died girl, he actually burst into tears and glomped her onto the couch, smiling so bright. The rest of that day was spent catching up, explaining her living conditions, and then art.

Sasori visited later that day for the first time, unscheduled, to see the surprise of Itachi opening the door. Nearly ripping off the raven haired man's head, Sakura came flying down the hall with a shout, ready to drive a knife she had grabbed into his face for 'attacking her prince', which she had come to call Itachi.

Of course, the red head was so surprised that he might not have dodged, were it not for Deidara pinning her down and reminding her Sasori was a friend.

When she settled down, she and the artist she called her brother explained so that Sasori wouldn't end up trying to kill Itachi again, who Sasori quickly made up with.

Then there was Kakuzu and Hidan, though she expected Hidan's surprise and hug, she was surprised to see how big Kakuzu's eyes got and ow happy he was she lived on. He said that she was the only one who could make Hidan shut up, but she suspected he thought of her as a friend of some sort.

Konan came with Pein next, and she never thought the bluenette would be so glad to see her. By the time Konan left, Sakura was calling her mom somehow. It was going to stay that way, too, because Konan said it was perfect. And, as funny as Kisame thought it was, Sakura also started calling Pein dad because Sakura realized the pair were going out.

Deidara brought Tobi over to visit, and the pair were nuts, and unstoppable.

And, on the last day, Hidan, Zetsu, and Deidara, and Pein all showed up to discuss with Kisame, and Itachi.

Apparently, Kisame's parents were coming for a visit from Florida, and 'no girls' was a rule for him that they set for him. So, Sakura needed a new place to crash.

Pein and Kisame sat on the main couch, Sakura lounging across their laps, and playing with the phone she had grabbed from Kisame. Neither seemed to care much, in fact, they expected as much.

Itachi sat to the side of the room, watching the debate carefully and calculating pros and cons.

Hidan, Zetsu, and Deidara sat around the room, the only people who, at this time, could shelter the Pinkette.

"I can totally watch her, un. Aside from school, I'm always home working on my art." Deidara had stated. "And I have plenty of candy, hmm."

Pein shook his head, "but, if I remember right, your aunt Tsunade visits all the time." He responded, "And without warning."

He opened his mouth to retort, but had no reply, so when he Hesitated, Zetsu put in, "I have the pretty big house. **And free time**, I could take care of Petal."

Kisame blinked, "but you don't have a supply of M&Ms- or anything sugary, really, Mr. Vegetarian."

Itachi blinked. "So, that leaves Hidan."

The silver haired guy grinned, shrugging. "My apartment is pretty big. And I do have candy." He agreed. "Whole stock pile from Halloween last year in that freezer." He smirked, "I can definitely take care of pinky."

Sakura giggled from where she sat, but Zetsu and Deidara exchanged glances, the same thought passing between them. Kisame seemed to share the thought, as did Itachi. Even Pein looked hesitant.

Everyone –except Sakura, it seemed- knew a few reasons aside from his anger management, why he was in Akatsuki. Sure, his weird religion. But… Hidan was a criminal, like Sakura. Except he was very guilty of his charges.

Pein sighed, "There are no other options, so for the week, Sakura will stay with Hidan. Zetsu, you will watch her the next week, so stock up on M&Ms and what not. Deidara, watch your Aunt's schedule, and consult with Itachi to see if your aunt has a pattern, and we can schedule taking care of Sakura at your house in case of emergency." He gave Zetsu and Deidara a look that said 'be ready if she needs to move in with you'.

Sakura rolled off Pein and Kisame's laps, onto the floor, and bounced up excitedly. "Sakura gets to see Hidan's house!" she mewed.

While they humored the pinkette and her rant about how fun her stay with Hidan was, Kisame pulled said jashinist up by the arm and away into the kitchen.

"What the hell, fish fuck?" he demanded.

"You," he started in a deadly voice "need to watch yourself. You'll figure out before the first night ends, that she doesn't go to sleep normally. You take advantage of it, and I'm going to hurt you so hard, Jashin isn't even going to want you as a follower." He threatened, towering over the pink-eyed man.

He didn't wait for Hidan to reply, but shoved him aside, and made his way back out to the living room.

Hidan followed him out, confused. He didn't have a moment to question, because within the next moment he was on the floor, Sakura clutching to him. "We get to be house-buddies!"

He smirked, "yes, yes we do."

Hidan went home, and as he was finishing setting up the guest bedroom for the pinkette, Itachi showed up to drop her off.

"Be a good girl, Sakura-hime." Itachi told her, firmly. "Try not to kill anyone, okay princess?"

"Yes, Itachi-chan! I'll be good, I promise!" she nodded, excitedly looking around the living room. For an apartment, this place was big… but messy.

"Now, if you need help and Hidan is not here, Kakuzu lives in the next apartment." Itachi told her. Not just if Hidan wasn't here, but if the problem was _Hidan_. He wasn't exactly happy about leaving her here- it was the LAST thing he wanted. Well, after her dad or the police catching her. So, he had to.

Hidan came out of the hall, smirking. "The miser doesn't like company." He commented.

Sakura giggled, hurrying over to wrap arms around the taller man. "Hida-kun!" she cooed happily.

He smirked, putting his own arms around her waist. "Sup, bitch. Ready to stay the week?"

Aware he just randomly curses, she ignored it and grinned happily, "yup! Sakura loves sleepovers, Hida-kun!"

He chuckled, and Itachi blinked. Still somewhat hesitant to leave her here, he called to Sakura, "have fun, and be careful, Princess."

"Good bye, Prince-kun!"

And she was left with Hidan. She giggled, bouncing around the whole apartment, him following at a slower pace for the first few minutes. Then, after exploring every room by about 8:00, she found Hidan sitting in his bedroom, sharpening a really, really big scythe.

She approached, no longer in her Sweet Cherry mood and in her casual, normal mood. Looking over the weapon with curiosity, he wielded it up and smirked at its height. "Pretty damn awesome, right?"

Sakura nodded, amazed. "Where would you even by something like that?" she asked in awe.

He smirked, "I've got a good fucking source, mind you." He chuckled.

Sakura laughed, "Oh joy, I'm living with a guy who has those illegal 'connections'. Don't knife me in my sleep, Hidan." She snorted, sitting on the side of the bed and picking up one of the knives spread on the bed for sharpening.

"No fucking promises." He said with a happy-looking smile as he set down his weapon against the wall beside the bed.

She chuckled, "you're definitely a weird one, Hida-kun." She commented absently, leaning on the wall as she held the blade to the light.

He took good care of these things; the blade was nice and sleek, hairline thickness. Vaguely, she wondered if she could get one of these.

"That might be why I'm Akatsuki, bitch." He chuckled, sharpening another one.

She smirked, tossing it onto the bed so it landed in the original place. She leaned over all the weapons, examining them. "Wow, those two look pretty good." She said, pointing to the sharpened pair of brass knuckles toward the middle of the collection.

He glanced up at her, smirking. "Want a pair?" he asked, picking them up and handing them to her. Her eyes went wide, and she gasped.

"Really?" she said disbelievingly. "They look so cool, are you sure?" she ran her finger up the spine of the blade, ogling its nice length, and trying one on her right hand.

"Completely." He smirked. _You're going to need it._ He swallowed, hoping he was wrong, and she would make it out of this apartment ok.

He showed Sakura to the guest room, newly cleaned for her arrival, and started on his rounds. Lock the windows. Put away the weapons. Change into his comfy, baggy black cotton pants. Turn out the lights. But, he paused at the door. 7 different locks were right there, for once not to be locked; and Kakuzu –as his next-door-neighbor- would normally flip the switch in his own apartment that would lock the door.

Hidan couldn't be trusted, even by himself.

They weren't going to lock the pinkette in with him, either. He put a hand up, running it along the edge of the closed door. For the first night since he got out of prison, he was going to sleep with the door unlocked…

He shook his head, continuing on to his room. He sighed, flopping into his bed. He could handle this. Yeah, he was fine. She wasn't even in the room, nothing bad would happen.

And with those thoughts, he fell asleep, huddled in his blanket.

It was still late at night; he had only slept for about 5 minutes. But he opened his eyes when his bed creaked, and he had to do his best not to lash out when he felt something at his side, because he realized he could see tired, apple colored eyes glowing in the darkness.

His breath hitched, and she snuggled into his side, under the blanket and holding onto him. Within seconds her breathing evened out.

His mind raced, and he hazily recalled Kisame's threat. She doesn't sleep alone, is what he meant?! AND HOW DID THEY THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!

He shook his head, closing his eyes. She was asleep, and he was tired. Clearing his head, he ushered in darkness and made way for sleep, which soon engulfed him.

If he was asleep, nothing could happen…

He woke up again, two hours into the night. His breathing was rapid. On his side he lay, and she was sleeping in front of him, arms wrapped tightly around his chest. His arms had wrapped around her waists in his sleep, holding her ass and pushing her closely to him in both their unconsciousness.

Her overly long pink hair splayed. Her breathing was slow and peaceful, each breath pushing her breast onto his chest ever so slightly.

His teeth clenched, his eyes dilating till they were small black dots surrounded with thin lines of magenta. A cold sweat broke out in a light sheet over his pale skin.

He was going to do something he regretted. This was very bad.

His breath rasping quicker, he didn't move away, fearing his thin resistance would snap, but he felt it withering the longer he sat there, his eyes taking in her soft lips and dark, long eyelashes.

Inching his hands away as slow as he could, he tried to separate. But her porcelain, smooth skin tantalized him with soft curves, and his hands hovered over her chest in longing. He remembered originally thinking it a little flat, but the small, perky cushions were the perfect size; they would fit snuggly into his hands…

The wavering struggle against surrendering was flickering out, slowly, but surely. His brow furrowed in dismay, but he hungrily thought up how to undress the sexy pinkette, much to his dismay.

He violently slammed out of the bed, crashing to the floor and onto his back in the dark of the room. He lay there, panting, clutching at the racing muscle in his chest, resisting the urge of climbing back into that bed.

Balancing himself with the wall, he meekly put his wait on it as he went around the room. Pausing with one hand on the white painted support, the insisting thoughts made him turn his head back to the bed.

She still looked gentle, though her face twisted as dainty hands grasped the now empty sheets where he had been.

Apart of him shouted to get away, she was fragile, and he couldn't lay a hand on the poor thing. But another part grinned evilly, saying he could fill that place beside her like she wanted, and put forward the savage release he could get when he broke the fragile, delicate thing that had willingly climbed into his bed.

He was in the bathroom door in a heartbeat, slamming it closed and locking it, where he leaned against the wall. His breath came in shaggy, harsh pants. His eyes were mere specs, dilated so small, as he clutched at his head with one hand, willing the thoughts away.

Without a second thought about the cotton, absorbent clothes, he turned the shower on cold; sitting in its stream of icy water with his legs crossed and stressed muscles in direct attack of sub-zero shower. His eyes were tight shut. His teeth were clenched. He shook his head violently, trying to remove his thoughts.

_Forget about Sakura. Forget about Sakura. Forget about Sakura._ He chanted, desperately.

But another darker one bickered back at him,** just think of the fun, the thrill, the pleasure. The smoothness of her breast. How sweet she would taste. The screams of your name she would cry and shriek.**

But, the cool water was helping, so cold it suffocated his thoughts and numbed his tense body. He tipped his head back, soaking his hair as his breathing evened out to calm breaths.

He sat there for another 5 minutes, before shutting off the water. Stepping out and grabbing a pair of spare comfy pants he kept in the back of the towel closet, he grabbed one of said clothes, drying silver hair with a sigh.

Night one, down. Only 6 more…

As he opened the door, he mused he could sneak out of bed after she fell asl-

When the door opened, she was there, dragging her blanket behind him and standing at the door. Her eyes were half lidded, clouded with sleep. He sighed, no, it seemed she wouldn't and _couldn't_ sleep without him.

He brushed the thoughts, however pending, aside. For the night he was good. He smiled sleepily down at the black haired, naturally pink haired girl, turning her around and leading her back to the bedroom. For tonight, he sighed, he was good after the cold shower.

But, as in all good stories, bad things happen when thoughts are put away for later.


	11. can't help yourself

**Chasing Cherry**

When Hidan woke up via the alarm clock, he noted she was already gone, and climbing out of bed he traded in his pajama pants for a pair of jeans, put on his Jashin necklace, and headed out- not really bothering with either the shirt or doing more than brushing his hair back out of his face instead of the gel.

He paused outside the bedroom's door. The floor was clean, no cloths, freshly vacuumed. Walking down the hall with a raised eyebrow, he ended up in the newly-sparkling living room. The windows were cleaned, the smell of air freshener fragranced the room, and- "hey, I didn't know that couch was leather!" he chuckled. "First time in months I've seen an inch of it!"

"And now it sparkles! Behold!" Sakura called from the kitchen, he saw her scrubbing away vigorously at dishes in the bubbly sink. Her hair was tied up and she had tied that black bandana he had left on the table a few days ago around her fore head. There was a dirt scuff on her cheek, and she had one of his T-shirts on, tied up above her slim stomach.

Grabbing his bag from the hook on the wall he didn't know was there, he entered the section known as the kitchen. (Cause apartments have small kitchens, they aren't like rooms. At least, by my standards.)

"What's gotten into you, bitch? Aspiring to be a fucking maid?" he asked with a smirk, propping his face on his hand at the ledge of the counter.

She chuckled, tossing a little bit of the white, foamy bubbles at him to splatter on his arm. "The girls told you on day one: Cherry Scented- and this personality can't stand your pig sty." She teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

He smirked, scrapping the bubbles off his arm to swipe them into the sink. "Well, I'm off to the fucking school-"

"There's a school for fucking, eh?" she cut in, laughing.

He smirked at her. "Ha-ha, fucking funny, bitch." He swatted her coal colored hair with a smirk, headed for the door.

"Put on a shirt, Romeo~!" she called, and he sighed, heading back toward the bedroom.

Getting a lift from Kakuzu as usual, though normally after the miser had unlocked his door's switch, the pair drove in a tense silence.

Finally, Kakuzu pointed to the elephant in the room- er, car. "Did anything happen?" he demanded, bluntly.

"Nope, because I fucking told you- I can handle the bitch." He smirked, flat out lying. "And, what the fish fuck didn't warn me about, is that she won't go to fucking sleep alone." He added, with false pride.

Kakuzu, at first blinking in alarm, smirked. "It seems you've gotten a lot better."

Hidan smirked, "fucking told you so, stitch ass!" he mentally sighed, _how long will it last…?_

The day went by as normal. Nervous questioning from Akatsuki first period about Sakura, and if 'anything happened'. Second period, they went to classes, some of them spending a period or to in the girls' classes after threatening Ebisu –the school counselor- to write up an allowance so they could keep watch over the pinkette's sisters, who were depressed all day every day.

And when Hidan arrived home, he blinked at the sight before him.

Sakura, who's hair was somehow pink again, had apparently found his exercise equipment while cleaning, at it seems that when her mood changed it had become 'Cherry Stems', her very athletic mood.

She had found and changed into one of his light grey tank tops, tying it like the shirt above her midsection, as well as one of her shorts.

He gapped at the amount of weight she was pumping up and over her head repeatedly. "Wow."

Sakura turned her head as she dropped the metal handle with 50-pound, 100-pound, and 45-pound weights on both sides. Her cheeks were bright red from her work out as she grinned, her hair tied up messily, loose strands hanging on her face and clinging to her skin here and there.

She fell forward, landing on her hands, and in seconds she was doing one hand pushups on her right hand, the other behind her back. "Welcome home, Hida-kun! If your wondering about the hair, I was in my Cherry Syrup mood earlier and she didn't think the black hair was as sexy as my pink hair, so she got rid of it. Oh, Ccn you do me a favor?" she called.

He smirked, tossing his bag on the handy hook on the wall she had discovered, watching her. "Whatcha need, bitch?" he asked.

"How much you weigh?" she asked, bluntly.

"Hm… 150 or some shit." He blinked. "All muscle, by the way." He added, smirking as he flexed.

She chuckled, "stand on my back, bud, I need some restraint." She said, smirking up at him.

He blinked, "I'll give you some fucking restraint." He smirked, grinning. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, setting it on record, and set it so it faced her from on the coffee table.

"ha-ha-ha, so funny I forgot to laugh." She chuckled, as he hesitantly kicked off his shoes and stepped onto her back tentatively. He blinked as he felt the muscle ripple under her back, and with a slight grunt she paused, but then continued her exercise as if he were a feather.

"Hehe, your one tough bitch," he said, giving his camera a thumbs up.

"You don't think I socked you across a room and into a wall by being a wimp, did you?" she laughed, rolling her eyes at his recording antics.

"Hey, fuck that shit. You just caught me off guard. I didn't think a bitch like you could hit so hard, you looked so fucking puny." He pouted.

Sakura shrugged. "Ok then, well how about when a knocked Daddy-Pein out with the desk? Or when I threw Kakuzu through the window, and when he made it back to base again, into the ceiling?" she reminded, revealing how she had knocked out the two members when she arrived and was out of M&Ms, which she snagged with her free hand every other minute of exercise.

He smirked easily, "Oi, bitch, you still were soothed by Zetsu's pussy-ass song. 'lost without love', pathetic." He smirked, poking her in the head.

She paused, looking up at him with a quizzical look. "Have you even heard the song before?" she asked, as if the assumption of the title was absurd.

He blinked, shaking his head, and she sighed.

"In a world, without your love. You think I'd be weakened, but no I've grown stronger.

Oh, the world seems bigger, the sky much brighter, the house even warmer, and I might just let you know…

I'm happy to let you go."

She sang absently, repeating the words Zetsu had lolled her with before she had jabbed a jagged splintering piece of wood into Deidara, which had left the blonde in shock and made him a little on edge the rest of the day. She chuckled at the memory.

Hidan scoffed from where he was now sitting on her back with his legs crossed. "That doesn't fucking seem like it could sooth anyone."

She laughed, "I might have destroyed Zetsu-kun if he had sang something weak while I was in my rage." She chuckled. "But, he knows how someone with a similar mental problem like mine works in the head. So, yup, he was smarter."

Her pushups were gradually slowing and he watched curiously when she stared into distant space, continuing to talk without seeming to notice. "He's smarter and wiser than someone of our age should be. And he doesn't like pity about his appearance or metal differences, even though he feels hurt when he's rejected for them. He favors his sharp teeth over the rest of his odd appearance, too, even though his eyes are probably what I love most."

She sighed, going even slower, "he least favors his skin, but I think it's pretty cool the way it divides for his personality. His black half is more dominant, but that half of him lets his white half do most of the talking and makes it seem more prevailing. It's made me wonder if his black side is more nice then it lets on, and I wonder if his white side realizes it's not as governing…"

She finally stopped, half way down, still looking off in thought. He smirked, plainly realizing she had a little crush on the skitz kid.

He went back to bed again, this time it was difficult to even get to sleep, Because Sakura had seemed to think he made a great pillow, and slept with her head on his chest. He ended up staring at the ceiling for a long 2 hours before finally sleeping.

And, he sighed in relief when he woke up in the morning, he wasn't roused by his night time cravings.

The next day, school went the same. Questioning first period, the girls came for a scheduled meeting in second period so they could see how their emotions and all were going, checking they weren't grieving too much.

He came back home, and Sakura was on the couch, reading. The day was fine, but yet again, the night came.

He had gone to bed a little before her, and had fallen asleep before Sakura went to sleep as well.

So, he thought he was fine for another night… he thought wrong.

Sakura slept happily, her dream was rather nice.

She was back in Akatsuki's base, with Hidan, Kisame, Itachi, and Deidara. Zetsu and Pein had gone to get her sisters, because faze 3 had just ended. She was bouncing around, excited to see her sisters. The dream was warm and fuzzy, yet one of those dreams where you know it's a dream.

Zetsu showed up at the door, knocking 8 times instead of Akatsuki's code of 7, but they didn't seem to notice. When they opened the door for him, he said he needed Itachi and Kisame's help, explaining a reason she forgot within a few seconds. The three left, and Deidara and Hidan were left with her. The played an ester egg hunt game while they waited, and outside she noted it was a green sky that day.

Deidara started talking about how green skies were rare and meant something, but she tuned him out and started to play with Hidan while Deidara continued to talk on, distracted by the sky.

Her dream wasn't feeling warm anymore, though. Her wrists felt itchy and her mouth was weird, and she kept feeling the need to twitch. Her stomach was growing cold, for some reason, starting at her waist, and spreading up in a line till it reached her neck, then the line spread out from the line to her sides.

She wasn't playing with anyone in particular, now. Her dream was fuzzy, and she picked out a face or name here or there. Things were a blur.

Her chest started to hurt, too. Not like she was in actual pain, but like it was under harsh pressure, and she shivered. She wriggled around, but it made her wrists feel even more itchy and tight.

She was starting to panic in the dark blur of her dream, confused and anxious. She didn't know why she was getting so scared. She just… was, and she wasn't liking what was going on at all.

That cold feeling started again, at her waist, and traveled down her body, until all of her felt cold. It wasn't cold like she was shivering… it was, like, exposed-cold.

Her chest was only feeling pressured on one side now, but she gasped at… something. Something, bellow her waist, welling her core and filling it with warmth. She shivered at it, and a throaty moan like noise rose in her throat, as her fuzzy dream evaporated.

It was really dark, but she adjusted slowly, because another, whimpering moan climbed out of her throat.

A dark, evil chuckle gave her mind something real to adjust to in the world, and her mind reeled as her sense of feeling became heightened. Her legs tightened against the heart-pounding, smooth motions pressing against her lower section, and it paused hesitantly.

Her eyes adjusted slowly, and she realized her condition, just as the motion continued and her breath caught in her throat, unsuccessfully an attempt to stop the groan that rippled from deep in her chest.

Her shirt had been ripped up the middle and pried apart, the bra she had fallen asleep with that night cut down the center as well, and firm hand rubbed roughly against it. Her lips were swollen, and an odd, but not unpleasant taste hint there. Her shorts had been pulled off, the only clothes she was left with was her boy shorts.

But, much to her terror-filled realization, there he was, straddling her, his free hand quite enjoying her jewel, and his eyes and grin were malicious and showed the monstrous crave. Those deep magenta eyes were unmistakable as they glowed with hunger- Hidan.

Terror clawed at her, alarm and panic welling up so heavy in her head, and filtering into the rest of her.

He had her pinned down with his own weight. Her arms were tied in front of her, in his view. There was nothing within reach on the bed, aside from the blanket that had been tossed aside to her left, leaving her in the bed to the nightmare she had awoken from her dream to.

She felt the hand on her breast slide along her smooth stomach, and she shivered in pure fear.

Then it picked up a cold metal knife from beside her hip, and cut away at one side of her underwear. His eyes were brimming with anticipation as she froze, icy with terror as his smirk grew to a wide, insane grin, as the knife prepared to cut away at her last piece of cloth.

A shriek erupted from her in terror filled horror, tears heavy in her eyes. The panic rich cry jolted at the silver haired jashinist, surprising him so greatly that he fell of the bed, startled, and the knife sliding into her skin recklessly while slicing the fabric with it.

Grabbing at the blanket beside her, she crashed out of the bedroom just as he struggled to get up.

She bolted through the living room just as he slammed into the hall wall on his way out the room at full speed, pelting after her with wide eyes as she slammed the front door closed.

Looking around wildly, she dragged one of the random chairs out here and stuck it under the door nob, just as it banged in his attempt to get out.

Clutching at the blanket in front of her chest and hiding her exposure, she banged on Kakuzu's apartment door, hoping for all she was worth that he wasn't a deep sleeper, as Hidan's door repeatedly banged.

Then, one of the doors opened.


	12. rescue me

**Chasing Cherry**

The door opened, and she mentally thanked every religion's god she could think of that it was Kakuzu's to slam open.

And, as he opened the door in anxious fear of what he knew he should have prevented, he was met with the tear streaked, terrified face of the pinkette, who was naked aside from the torn shirt in ruins, ripped and hanging on her shoulders, and clutching the dark red blanket from Hidan's bedroom.

Seconds after he had opened his door, Hidan's was thrown open.

Sakura jolted, whirling around to face him, and started shaking violently.

Kakuzu instantly reached forward as Hidan dashed out into the hall, and pulled the trembling girl into his apartment behind him.

As she clutched onto his night shirt –a black tank top- with one hand, she whimpered fearfully. Hidan was at Kakuzu's door in a heartbeat.

"Kakuzu, I'm really sorry! Look, please, you know I didn't mean it, man!"

All she could actually hear was his voice, and she could see the insane, hungry look. And the memory only made her shake more violently.

Kakuzu glanced back, frowning, then turned to the absolutely frazzle Jashinist. He shook his head, "go home, Hidan." And with that, the silver haired teen nodded, stalking back to his apartment with his head down.

Kakuzu closed the door, "go on, wrap yourself up, I'm going to call up Pein." He told her, as gently as he could. She nodded, still pale in fright, and made her way to the living room as he headed for the bedroom, where he had left his cell phone.

He had jolted awake, a light sleeper, at the first scream from Hidan's bedroom which was directly on the other side of the wall. He knew it wasn't as great as Hidan put it; damn Hidan's pride.

Sakura waited for him, wrapped in a blanket, shivering both in fright and from the cold. He came back out with one of his longest shirts, a black one with white splatters on the back.

"I called Pein, and he's sending Deidara and Zetsu over, they are nearby. You're going over to Deidara's. Itachi and Kisame are going to meet you three there." He explained carefully. She nodded slowly, still starring at the floor.

He sighed, balling up the tank top around the neckline, and putting it over her head. He pulled out her arms, one at a time, putting them each through the sleeves. Pulling the bottom of it down, she blinked up at him. "Th-thank you, Kuzu-kun." She murmured.

He smiled slightly, patting her head.

She smiled at him half-heartedly. She couldn't believe it. Hidan had grown on her as much as Deidara, maybe even as much as Itachi and Kisame. But… that was all just to have her…?

She sank into her blanket, pulling it up over her shoulders. He didn't like her; he didn't want her as a friend. Another lie.

How could he? She had even opened up to him. He had moved onto her pink list, one of her best friends… it was all just a scam.

Kakuzu seemed to know what was on her mind, because from where he was standing in the kitchen and leaning on the counter. He called out, "you know, it's not his fault."

She blinked, puzzled, at the tall man. He stood there, unmoving, watching her with green-red eyes for a minute, and then sighed as he walked back into the living room. "You know that we all have problems, some deeper then you might realize."

"Like Prince-kun?" she blinked up at him with her emerald orbs.

He nodded, "yes. And Hidan is one of those deeper problems. He can't even trust himself, to tell the truth. It's almost like he's a skits, like Zetsu. Except he wasn't born with the problem, and it isn't a separate personality, but it's embedded deep into him. His dad, like yours, was one hell of a bastard, and Hidan endured till he was 14, and faced it alone. He was traumatized with all these thoughts. He wakes up in the middle of the night, and he sometimes has no control over them, or himself. Did you see all the locks?"

She nodded, looking up at him as she remembered the 7 (lucky number again) locks on the door. He continued, "Well, this button also locks all his windows and door, so he can't get out." He said, showing a remote with two buttons, and pointing to the red one. "We normally would lock him in, because at night his problem will take over, and he won't stop until those thoughts are satisfied… it's kind of like being possessed."

She blinked, shaking her head, yet wondered what _exactly_ Kakuzu meant.

The miser sat on another couch, sighing. "27 girls, Sakura. All found in the mornings, their hands tied, naked in their beds." He rubbed his eyes, like he was tired of the whole thing, which he was. "A pattern that was showing up so frequently, the police got serious and used forensics. Hidan was caught; he spent 3 years in juvi, 2 in prison."

Sakura blinked, stunned. 27 times, each one he had no control? But, Kakuzu didn't seem done with his story. "I met Hidan through prison, after I myself had joined Akatsuki. Itachi's dad had used his connections to get me into prison as part of the plan to be lost to the Mafia. I had met Hidan in his last month, and when he was released, I found that he was in my homeroom. I learned his story; he joined Akatsuki… and another eight months later, here we are."

"He's only been in Akatsuki 8 months at this point? That means that when I joined 2 months ago, he had only known you guys for half a year." She blinked, amazed.

Kakuzu nodded, "Hidan is the second newest member, excluding you and your sisters. Like Deidara –who is the newest- not everyone knows the length of his story yet. All the other members besides me, Pein, and Itachi with his mind-powers-thing, only know that Hidan's been in prison, and he has no self control, sexually." He explained carefully.

"Deidara's newest? How long has nee-chan been in Akatsuki?" she asked, surprised. Her blonde brother figure seemed at ease with these people, it was hard to believe he would know the least about the others or that less was known about him then with the others.

Kakuzu nodded, "I don't quite know the depth of why he is here, but Sasori, Pein, Konan, and Itachi all said it was good enough reason. As for how long, he joined only a month before you." He shrugged. The blonde was basically a mystery to most of them. He wasn't an outcast to other students; in fact he was very likable. The only thing off about him was that he was a pyromaniac.

Sakura blinked. Wow, she would have to question Deidara after she went to live with him.

She sighed, looking over to the wall between them and Hidan's apartment. So even if it wasn't his fault, how was she supposed to trust him? She had counted on him, could rely on him, could confide in him, and with great conviction. She used to only have faith in Ino and Hinata, but they weren't as tough and self-reliant like Hidan had been. She felt that she _could_ depend on him, and he would be able to handle it.

But she was wrong. She couldn't even _trust_ him, let along believe in him. If she couldn't even trust him while she was asleep, how could she have any hope of trusting him at all?

And what really made her want to cry, was that in all reality, she had failed. Akatsuki had expected her to be safe, had the confidence they could watch over her. Hidan himself had believed he could help her. But because she had been so careless and dropped her guard, something he couldn't control, something beyond his grasp had gotten to her. He probably felt like garbage in there, alone.

Then the door slammed open, and her skitz boy and nee-chan rushed in, panting, wide eyed, and pale.

Deidara, first to catch his breath, spotted her on the couch with her eyes on the floor and tears on her face. His mouth opened wordlessly, and he hurried to her. Squatting down in front of her with both hands on her shoulders, he looked at her, scanning her face.

Then, his originally speechless mouth started to spew high-pitched questions. "Are you ok? What happen? Did you get away? Did you run fast enough? _Did he hurt you?!_" the last one was hard, and demanded an answer. But, she had no voice for an answer, nor anything _to _voice.

The way he was so worked up over this, the way he seemed to care so much, the speed in which he had dealt to get here, and the absolute fear and alarm in his eyes when tears built up again in her eyes from his passion. None of it seemed real. Other than her sisters, no one would care so much. She had had friends, yes. Suigetsu and Jugo the greatest of them. And though she knew Jugo and Suigetsu had freaked out when she had erased herself from the face of the earth to them, this was another level of emotion.

She leapt off the couch, clutching onto his chest. Tears streamed her face again, and she breathed in the familiar smell of his clay and felt his arms around her.

It was great to have a brother, when it always felt like you were alone in the world. When you were responsible for two other lives at all times. When you were constantly on the run and on the down low. When you had to ALWAYS make the right choice. When you had to take all the pain of the consequences, ALONE.

And all she wanted to do right now was seep into the arms of her brother, and forget about Hidan, forget about mafia escapees, forget about being bipolar, forget about her problems and choices and decisions and secrets.

And cradling the pink haired sister he had come to love in the mere first day he had met her, he held tight and murmured softly, stroking her long pink hair, barely noticing Zetsu as he dragged Kakuzu to the kitchen for questioning as they both glanced back at the terrorized girl.

Standing up and easily picking her up with him, he sat on the couch and wrapped the blanket around her again, still murmuring softly.

After Zetsu got all of the story he could from Kakuzu, he stormed out the door, headed for Hidan's room.

"Z-Zetsu-kun, don't leave Sakura." She mewed out, reaching her hand out to him as he opened the door.

He paused, and looked back at the pair. Sakura, with her eyes red from crying and her face in a miserable frown. Deidara smiling a pitiful 'I-want-to-kill-him-with-you-but-we-can't-yet' smile. The bi-colored man sighed, moving back to the couch and taking her hand, planting a small kiss on it. "Of course not, **little Petal.**"

She smiled, feeling comforted with the pet name, and the two voices that she had grown accustomed to and probably wouldn't be able to live without hearing from him again.

With that, Deidara carried her out to the car, swathed in a soft blanket Kakuzu had given them so he could return Hidan's. It was Zetsu's car, a green jeep, and as he drove, he kept glancing at the silent pinkette with worry as she stared out the window at traffic silently from Deidara's lap. She was curled tightly in his arms, and he exchanged a worried glance with the blonde as they pulled up to the house and she had said nothing.

Itachi and Kisame were waiting for them, leaning on Kisame's open-roofed Jeep that was painted black-ish blue.

When the car pulled up, both teens were instantly at the car's side as it stopped.

Taking up the pink haired girl from Deidara, Kisame held her so tight he thought he might crush her- then she squeezed back even tighter. "shark-kun…" she whimpered, remembering all the nights she had shared with him, as her favorite sleeping-buddy and best friend.

He grinned sadly with his sharp-toothed smile, "oh, Kitten… I knew it was a bad idea." He sighed, shaking his head at his stupidity. He was going to smash the zealot, but for now his oversized arms would work just as fine in keeping her safe as compared to impaling the jashinist.

Itachi sighed, this was all his fault. He should have thought of another way, somehow. Shaking his head, he turned to Zetsu and Deidara. "How is Sakura-hime?"

Zetsu blinked, angrily. "**Kakuzu said he found her, screaming for help, naked and on his doorstep.**" He spat heatedly.

Deidara blinked, anger flaring in his eyes at the one sentence. "He's going to DIE, hmm."

Itachi blinked at them, "don't do anything yet, either of you. You both know well he has no control over himself." He warned.

"He should TAKE control, yeah!" Deidara hissed.

"**This is unforgivable, Itachi, no matter the circumstance.**" Zetsu growled.

Kisame, holding the pink haired girl in one arm, shook his head. "I agree with them, Itachi." He declared with an angry frown. "What he did to my Kitten…" he trailed, his teeth clenching in his fury.

Itachi shook his head, "let's get her inside."

The group of five made their way into Deidara's house. He came from an incredibly rich family, and his house was pretty big. He had the maids, the limo and driver, everything. The family money was so plentiful that even his gabling-loving Aunt couldn't blow it all in her life time.

Deidara showed Kisame up to his room, where he was sure he could keep watch over her. And the members, all their first time actually entering the blonde's house, couldn't help forget their anger for a moment to ogle over the well kept, expensive rooms and halls they passed through.

Deidara called for a maid who was dusting at a small table, in the standard dark blue, silk feel dress and white birds pattering the bottom, and the black ribbon-bow around her waist.

"Please fetch our new guest, Sakura, some clothes, Miss Sora." He asked. The silver-haired girl dipped her head, blinking dark blue, sky-like eyes.

"Yes sir, where do I take them, Deidara-kun?"

"My room, please. And be sure they are comfy?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Miki and Yuki will be there shortly, master Deidara." She dipped her head, whisking off toward the maid's wing.

"Really? Maids?" Kisame chuckled.

"Only 11, un." He defended himself.

"Are they all _**female**_**, Deidara**~?" Zetsu teased, both sides of him grinning.

"Well… yeah, they are." He muttered.

Sakura giggled slightly, from where she had started walking herself, holding hands with Kisame and Itachi. "Nee-chan, there's someone who would be very sad to know you had 11 girls sleeping in your house." She cooed. Both boys holding her hands as well as Zetsu laughed.

Somewhere else, Hinata sneezed.

Deidara blinked, confused. "…who, un?"

Sakura sighed with a grin. "I told you blondes were stupid." And it took him a minute to remember the roof on their first meeting with 'hey, un!', and she laughed, "see?"

He pouted, "Saku-chan, yeah! Tell meeeeee!" he groaned.

She smirked, "I'll only give you a hint, Nee-chan…" she tuted, poking him in the chest. Then, holding her breath, she brushed her hair with her hands to be similar to Hinata's style. As her face turned red, she played with her fingers behind her back, and looked up at him with a shy, adorable face.

He blinked, "I don't get it."

The others laughed as Sakura sighed. "Blondes are air heads." She laughed, shaking her head in exasperation.

He huffed, turning on his heels with a pout as he crossed his arms. "You're such a mean little sister."

She pouted right back, throwing her arms around his waist. "Im a good little sister! It's not my fault I've never done this before, I'm the oldest, and have always been!"

He grinned, looking over his shoulder. "Good, because I'm your _only BIG_ brother!"

A vague memory appeared in her head, Gaara making a face at her when she had said "you're by favorite little brother!" he had replied, "Because I'm your only little brother, Saku-chan!"

Before she could even feel sad, Itachi patted her head. "Smile, Princess. I'm sure Gaara is proud of you."

Feeling a little uplifted, she puffed up her cheeks. "Mind readers." She huffed.

He smirked at her, "it did get us a good plan."

"No, the telepathy did." She shot back, grinning. "And the levitating, too, Prince-kun."

"And the paralyzer." Itachi added. "Which I stole from Sasori's mystery bag."

"Mystery wha?" she asked, confused. Then blinked at him with a scold in her tone, "and your dad's a cop, don't you know not to steal?!"

He shrugged, then continued, "Haven't you noticed? Sasori carried a huge duffle bag with him everywhere. It was black, remember?"

She shook her head no, thinking she should check out his mystery bag the next chance she got…


	13. rich boys and maids

**Chasing Cherry**

Sakura sat in an overly elegant room, outside the door Deidara was waiting, while the ladies of the house… 'Tended to her'. The room was a luxuriant bath, and Sakura blinked as a group of 11 women shoved her into the room. One of them, a girl with shoulder length choppy black hair tied up and dark black eyes by the name of Tsukiko, growled that if Deidara so much as glanced in…

Before she knew what was going on, a girl with blonde hair short and straight had stripped her of her clothes- only the T-shirt Kakuzu had put on her- and scowled. "This isn't very clean. And it says Kakuzu's name on it." She made a face at it, tossing it to the side. Just as she was remembering her name to be Yasu, the blonde girl turned her dark black and bright red, sly eyes to her. "Why were you clothesless at Kuzu's, eh Sakura?"

She flushed bright red, "no! That's not what happens!" she whined, earning laughter from most of the girls. One, smiling in amusement though sympathetic, patted Sakura's head. The pinkette, blushing like a burning sun from both the accusation and from being completely naked in front of strange girls, looked up at the taller girl with long, curly and shining silver hair- well brushed with a sleek shine, the grey shade reminded her of Hidan, and it made her almost purple yet blue eyes glow. She looked rather stunning in beauty, curves and bust and smooth porcelain face.

As she thought this, the girl scolded. "Looks don't matter, Sakura-san. And don't worry about Yasu's teasing; she's a total pushover."

A shiver raked up her body; though it didn't bother her as much as it would have a month ago after contact with Akatsuki, but was she a mind reader too?!

"You could say so…" the silver haired girl purred, "I'm Sora. Take it you've met Uchiha, ne?"

Sakura chuckled, "yup, Prince-kun!" she declared joyously, as a dark red haired girl with fiery red eyes shuffled her forward toward a bath tub, but sat her on a stool.

"Well, I'm the Head Maid, Akane, good to meet ya, Pinky." Akane, while the other girls were in the dark blue dresses, was in a violet dress, probably specially for the Head-Maid. She had waist-length blood red hair in a pony tail just a little way up from the tips, and had a red mask nose-down.

It was only now, as she was studying the girl, that she realized a trait that she had. _Cat ears. And a tail._ Both were blood red like her hair.

She looked around, her eyes wide. They… ALL… had Tails and cat ears…

"Oh, looky there, she finally noticed. You don't expect normal maids to tend to Deidara, do you?" a blonde girl with bright purple eyes and 20 different color hair clips in er mid-back length hair pulled into two low pony tails.

"What Hotaru says is true; not normal are the ones tending to you." Said another, brunette girl with only one, visible dark green eye. Her sleek hair was pulled into the same style as Deidara's. "Moriko is I; and my adopted brother is Dei." She greeted in rhyme.

Sakura blinked at her, before two more girls took both her arms. One had an exact copy of her hair, but deep lavender eyes, and the other had bright orange hair and yellow eyes. They both picked her up, and she yelped in surprise as they sat her on a stool. Then she was blasted with icy cold water.

"We'll make Sakura-hime as pretty as Miki-chan!" the ginger girl cooed, her tail flicking excitedly as she started to scrub at Sakura's hair with a scentless white shampoo.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that, Usagi, she has me beat." The other pink haired girl laughed, as she rinsed her down with a nozzle spraying gradually-warming water.

A second girl with short silver hair, but bright pastel pink eyes rather than Sora's midnight blue, carried over a laminated list. "Which scent, Sakura-hime?" she asked shyly.

Sakura stared at the extensive list. "Uh… the… Milk and Honey?"

Sakura wriggled around, blinking. She didn't think she had ever been this clean in her life…

After she had stepped out of the bathroom in a long, silky pair of pants that were baggy, and a light shade of red-purple. She was also given a nice, baggy black T-shirt from a band she liked, Green Day. They had combed out her light pink hair, and it looked as shiny as ever. They had used some sort of mint face scrub, and her face felt… minty, while her feet warm with fresh-dryer black socks. In a word, comfortable. That's how every inch of her felt- especially after the after-bath milk soak as they cleaned a clipped her nail- which she had found to her surprise had been clipped to a slow-curving point like claws and filled just as thin and sharp.

Anyway, Deidara lead her to her room, across from his own, and she gasped at the size. Queen bed of ultra soft foam, a window that displayed a court yard of trees and flowers. A sky light as big as the bed, above said object, with electronic covers to close it at the push of a button. A button to contact the maids, and a door to a private bathroom.

This place was so much better than where they had been living, her and the girls.

She turned to Deidara who leaned in the doorway to watch the hilarious reaction she had just had in a fit of laughter. "Nee-chan, can you do me a favor? It'll be the last thing I ever as of you."

"Well I hope it isn't!" he snorted. "What can big brother do?"

She shuffled shyly, "will you sleep with Sakura-chan?" she asked, looking at him with big, watery green eyes and a pouting lip.

He looked at her, pretended to try and be firm, then sighed ever so dramatically. "Oooooooooooookaaaaay." He fake whined.

Sakura giggled dramatically, pouncing him in a glomp. "Yay, Nee-chan and Sakura can have a sleep over!" then she shivered, "ewwwwww, your hand licked me!" Sakura whined.

He laughed, sweeping her up in one arm, dropping her onto the bed and they both laughed at his ever peculiar hands.

As she wormed under the covers, he dropped into a sitting position on the other side, watching the pinkette squirm around under the blankets trying to find her way out again.

He had never had any siblings, let alone a little sister. And well, Sakura had those moments, and she certainly scarred the crap out of him when she had no M&Ms. But yeah, Sakura was like a little kid most of the time, curious about everything and so giggly.

The pinkette popped out of the blanket beside him, and she reached over the edge of the bed to hit the light switch, and they both laughed when she almost fell off the bed.

Then, as he settled down she wriggled up beside him, putting her head on his chest and clutching on with a yawn. "Goodnight, nee-chan." She murmured.

With a smile, he wrapped and arm around her waist protectively. "Good night, little Sister."


	14. dear mother

**Chasing Cherry**

Sasori rang the doorbell. Sakura would be home alone right now, Deidara had to go to school, and Sasori skipped school to come here. It was the next day, and he had just heard this morning what had happened last night, and he tapped his foot anxiously as he waited for the door to open.

When it did, he was met with just the person he was looking for- Sakura, in a silky, bright red, designless dress with white edges, and black Akatsuki clouds and a black headband pulling back her long pink hair.

Upon seeing Sasori, the girl smiled brightly, grabbing his arm and dragging him into the house. "Saso-chan!" she squeal excitedly, gripping him tightly, and he choked, coughing at the pressure.

"Whoa there, Saku, I need my lungs." He chuckled breathily, hugging her back when she loosened up a little. "How is Deidara's house?"

"It's great!" she mewed happily, popping a few M&Ms into her mouth, and taking his hand to drag him off. She pulled him down the hall and into a well-lived in, clean looking room with a few of her things here and there, pulling him onto her bed, where she latched onto his chest. "Sakura missed Sasori." She mewed.

Suddenly caught off guard with sudden affection, he glanced down at her. "You ok, Sakura? Eating enough M&Ms?"

She nodded, eating a few more and somehow managing not to let him go in the process. "Cherry Sugar…" she murmured, squeezing him tight and rubbing her face against his chest.

"Cherry Sugar?" he questioned, confused, and again finding it hard to breath in her grip.

She didn't answer, instead closed her eyes, hugging just a bit tighter, and saying "I miss everyone, Sasori." Over and over.

He figured this was some sort of clingy mood that Ino just accidently didn't mention. Which proved true when didn't let go.

"Sakura-chan!" he blinked, hearing a voice in the hall. "Where are you?" a second call rang out, and soon the door opened again.

In stepped a pair of the maids he had met on his visits here, Moriko and Masa. Sakura turned her head to them and Sasori finally noticed the not-so-healthy looking red of her face and the sheen of glossy sweat.

"Sakura-hime, you're sick, you need to stop running away!" Masa chirped, her two different shades of green eyes were wide with worry, and her messy red-brown hair she looked frazzled.

"Bed rest you need, so don't make us plead." Moriko agreed, looking just as fussy.

"Come on Saku, they say sleep." He glanced to the pair of girls. "So this isn't her room?"

Masa sighed, "No, this is Deidara-sama's room." she explained, "Hers is across the hall, but she won't go to sleep for some reason."

Sasori shook his head. He got to his feet with Sakura clinging to his side with shaky legs, so he scooped her up and padded out and across the hall, opening the door to another elegant room with more of her stuff.

Setting her on the bed, she didn't release his arm as he chuckled when she pouted at him. She looked at him for a long moment, until he sighed, hoisting up beside her. She snuggled up, murmured "I like having real friends..." and fell asleep.

I… like… having friends? Sakura's apparently had many friends before. Like Kisame's friend-cousin-brother guy he had been told about. They were friends- friends enough that Suigetsu had risked his life for the pinkette. So… Real Friends?

…

… (Ooooooo foreshadowing~ ~ ~!)

…

While dazing in and out of naps, Sakura clinging to his side, Sasori had plenty of time to contemplate.

At first, little random things as his own sleep deprivation that all teenagers carry tried to claim him. What would he name a cat? Which T.V. show was his favorite? If made a pool-themed restaurant and made it a skating ting in winter, would he be successful and wealthy?

And through his next few cat naps, he found himself gradually finding more pressing or important things.

How would he do on that upcoming science test? Would he finish the entire English project by next week? Would he finish that carving by its sell due-date with the customer? How were Ino and Hinata today? Where did they both live, anyway?

That one question plagued him for a while, though eventually it was replaced in his half-awake state with Sakura-Related questions.

How had Sakura made money to support her and her sisters? How did the pinkette get signed up at a school without getting the cops alerted? Would he ever see her father? Where was her father? What about her mother? Sakura had never mentioned what happen to her mother.

And since this was a question of the late 4th hour of Sakura's sleeping, she blinked slowly awake, looking up at Sasori with her still pink tinted cheeks from overheating, though she looked healthier. She still looked completely out of it, probably only awake for a few minutes.

"Hey, Saku?" maybe if he asked her when she was tired, he wouldn't get a riddle answer like she always gave in regards to her past.

"Hmm…?" she mumbled in response, ignoring him awake-ness mostly, as she snuggled into his chest carelessly.

"Whatever happened to you mother?" he asked half heartedly quite. He didn't really want to wake her mind, Sakura needed her sleep. Maybe she wouldn't even remember him asking though, since she was obviously half asleep.

"Mommy…? Oh, Gaara-kun and Sakura killed mommy."


	15. Announcement! (not part of story)

**announcement to all readers from Neko-sama**

Syrian Arab Revar  
Mauritius  
Bulgaria  
Kuwait  
Bosnia and Herzegovina

you see those places i listed? those are all places i have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF.

yet somehow, i have at least 2 readers following me from those places.

my precious babies i love you all so very much. after 2 months of inactivity you still comment within the first 10 minutes of a story TWELVE TIMES.

there are some people i would like to personally promote.

you people have praised the crummy song lyrics i made up in some of them, even one of my precious extra cup-cake-y followers sang it and put it on youtube,

_Reira Honjo._

you people give me and the Rebel Queens the comments of a lifetime, hilarious and praising and detailed and perfect.

_MinaBlahBlahBlahAnimeFan_ for your hilarity and constant reviews.

_Babybroant_ for being a dedicated reader.

_Guest: Connie Davis_ for being so attached to my stories.

_Akatsukilover15_ for being a complete cookie for taking on my poor orphaned story 'Yours Truely'.

_KarrineWinchester_ for your frequent reviews, i can count on your appearance.

_asredwer_ fore your honesty and help in spotting my mishaps

_moonloonstar _for your detailed reviewing in 'speechless' and other, i love to read those longer reviews so much!

i love you all, as well as all my others who take the time to AT LEAST type 'write soon' or 'love it'. it makes my day when every two weeks i get to come and see your beautiful words and i read them ALL. i even respond once in a while, so if you ask a question just stick it in a review and it SHALL be answered!

and remember how much i love you ALL!


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